2 posts tagged “book review”

isn't this a gorgeous cover? a good friend passed this book on to me. i'm so glad i read it. set in 17th century persia, the author brings another world to life with rich descriptions of sights, sounds and smells.

the heroine (who remains unnamed throughout the entire book--to honor artisans of the past), loses her father at age fourteen. they live in a small village and come from humble roots. with her father's passing, she and her mother are unable to make ends meet. altho she was meant to have been married soon, it is now impossible as she has no dowry.

they turn to her father's half-brother for help, and he writes to invite them to stay at his home in the impressive city of isfahan. when they arrive, they find that her uncle holds a high office as one of the lead rug makers for the shah and other elite. our heroine has always been a good knotter (rug maker) and her uncle takes her under his wing.

she enjoys life in the big city, despite the fact that her aunt treats her and her mother like servants. they sleep in a tiny dirty room between the latrine and storeroom. our heroine befriends naheed, a girl from a wealthy family who is her same age, and they become friends. naheed convinces her to attend polo games so naheed may attract the attention of her crush--whom she intends to marry.

life changes for our heroine when she is offered a sigheh--a legal marriage union lasting three months--to a rich young widower. her aunt siezes it as an opportunity to ingratiate the family to perhaps gain rug commisions, as well as take the financial burden off of taking care of them, as our heroine would be paid for this union. and the sigheh can be renewed on a three month basis--if her husband is pleased. but they must keep this contract under wraps, as it is seen as shameful to the richer families (such as her aunt and uncle).

when our heroine agrees to this arrangement and loses her viriginity is when the story starts twisting every which way. we see her rashness as her strongest foible, and she repeatedly makes mistakes because of it.

the author disperses persian folklore throughout the tale, much like fables. the tale is told in the first person narrative, and the prose is lyrical. the author really brings you into this other place. an excellent debut novel. i took special interest in the tale as there are similar themes between her book and my own. i am impressed by her ability to create a quiet story that is still filled with intrigue and tension. i recommend it and consider it among the top five novels i have read in 2007.

i consider the meaning of night to be the best book i've read this year. and i read jane austen's pride and prejudice for the first time this year as well as other "classics" such as in cold blood and brave new world.

and so the book begins :

"after killing the red-haired man, i took myself off to quinn's for an oyster supper.

it had been surprisingly -- almost laughably -- easy."

cox does many things that new novelists are warned against. (i mean, look at those ly words! =) he starts with a murder. a tad cliche. he jumps around as far as timeline of the tale. there are themes which aren't new to any reader, the anti-hero discovers he was given away as a baby. his childhood, his life, his history was never what it seemed (many fantasy books). there is an incredible estate involved (austen books, gone with the wind) which should be his to inherit, except for the rash decision his birth mother made to cast him aside.

the tale is a confession, narrated in the first person by edward glyver. he discovers after his mother died, that she was part of the conspiracy to deny the rich and powerful baron of evanwood estate (his birth father) an heir. his birth mother did this horrific act (giving away of her first son), in retalition against her husband. she would deny her husband the heir he wanted, even tho the act sends her to her own grave, she is so struck by guilt and sorrow for her lost son.

edward discovers along the way, as he searches for clues, that other people were roped in to conspire in this act of betrayal. when edward discovers his past enemy, phoebus daunt, has insinuated himself into his father's home, and is to be adopted and made heir to evanwood, he tries everything in his power to gather information against daunt and thwart it.

i think cox is a master at storytelling. he sets the scene of victoria england so well, and the tone of edward perfectly. you understand his anger and his pain, you feel his frustration at the cards he was dealt in life. it is a mystery that unravels for the reader, and we are forced to see edward make mistakes, misinterpret information, even as we know what the inevitable outcome will be.

i spent five hours straight last night reading, so that i could finish the book. i found that my heart was actually pounding close to the climax of the story. in the end, edward does kill his old nemesis, phoebus daunt : "i killed him, but in doing so, i killed the best part of myself". as a reader, i wanted this murder, it was a scene the author had to give, and he created an obsessive monster in edward, yet still, i got it. i understood and was sympathetic to edward. dare i say, i liked him. i think that is an amzing feat in itself, by cox.

of course, after reading this tale, i think my storytelling skills are about as good as lump of a fresh horse manure--hell, stale dried horse manure. but i'm inspired. it's great to see an author who can tell a compelling story in a different era, create mystery and suspence using familiar elements, but still give a fresh and gripping tale. cox said that this novel was thirty years in the making, and he only felt compelled to write it finally when he was in danger of losing his eyesight. it was now or never. on the backcover : the meaning of night was named one of the 10 best books of the year by the economist, the washington post, booklist, and booksense.

i highly recommend it.