A ripping yarn

Between burnishing the bell-pull, adding to the pile of ironed business shirts and generally eliminating dust today, I was reading (in strict twenty minute slots, of course) Sarah Bryant's gripping novel, The Other Eden. I liked this book - it kept on drawing me back from the chores to finish it - and although I feel it could have benefited from a stricter editorial hand, it was good reading. In short, it's an allegorical, gothic, romantic piece alluding to "Rebecca", "Jane Eyre", "The Secret Garden", "Snow White, Rose Red" and more, and if that hasn't left you breathless then the male lead in the form of the Russian concert pianist, Alexander Trevozhov, certainly will.

When a writer has a character say "Don't worry, Elenka. What could possibly happen in a few hours?" you just know you have to fasten your seatbelt and hang on for the rest of the ride. Yes, perhaps too much of the plot occurs in dreams and dreamlike states; maybe there are too many abandoned mansions with dark secrets, too many locked doors and shuttered windows, questions of mistaken identity and family mysteries to be solved, but it's fun and it satisfied this reader where "The Thirteenth Tale" did not.

Musical references are scattered throughout the book, and it helps to be broadly acquainted with piano music, especially Chopin - with a nod to Rachmaninov -, and a contrapuntal reference to Bach. If Alexander had been mine I'd have had him playing Liszt's "Mephisto Waltz", but the writer's choice was Chopin Etudes, and the G minor Ballade which, crucially, "never answers the questions it raises".  And there you have it in all its unresolved, imagined intensity. Would you "Adam and Eve it"?

Comments

[Bluestalking Reader]

I've been waiting to hear what you'd have to say about this one, ever since I first saw its picture pop up on your blog. I reviewed it for Snow Books last year. I can remember taking it on vacation with me, trying my best to block out the noise so I could spend some quality time with it. I liked it very much, too, but of course I'm pre-disposed to loving anything gothic. Glad you enjoyed it, too.

[Elaine]

Ooh this sounds fun - duly noted as one to get hold of. Abandoned mansions, shuttered windows and music. Bliss

[Sarah Bryant]

My editor, Gilly, just sent me your lovely e-mail and link to this review. Thanks so much for the kind words! Love your website, by the way (I'm a knitting addict too...)