Blue Asylum by Kathy Hepinstall is set in a time when women were considered property. Northern and Southern states were fighting a Civil War. The Confederacy felt states had the right to define personage; while the Union felt the federal government had the right to declare slaves as human beings.
Iris Dunleavy sympathized with slaves on her husband's plantation. After a doctor and judge declared her insane, on account of this disrespect and humiliation, her husband had her committed to an upscale insane asylum. A British psychiatrist ran the Sanibel Asylum situated on a remote island off the coast of Florida. Iris is determined to escape. Although the asylum is upscale, Dr. Cowell is renown due to his thesis showing positive effects of "cold water treatment".
The 270 page novel is a quick read. It kept me turning pages wondering if Iris would be subjected to the cold water treatment, would she escape, would the tale have a happy ending? Other inmates included a Civil War veteran with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, although it was not called that at that time. The story hints at the specific event that caused the trauma; another reason to keep reading. Do not want to give away much of the story; suffice it to say there are interesting side stories needing answers or how will it turn out for other characters.
One women refuses to dine unless a plate is set for her deceased husband whom only she can see. One of my sisters continued setting a place at the table for her husband after he moved on to the Great Beyond. Might say a thin line between sanity and insanity. A quote:
"The doctor opened his eyes at some hour of night when the deepest sleep occurs. Those who wake at this hour feel a lonely separation from everyone but night birds and ghost crabs, never imagining the legions of kindred souls scattered in the darkness, who stare at ceilings and pace floors and look out windows and covet and worry and mourn."
Something for me to remember on insomnia nights. I used a bit of the fictional doc's advice when distraught over neighbor's all night LOUD music. Did not work, as it did for his patient. Yet I will continue to try it ~ concentrating on everything colored blue ~ I can conjure up visualizations, if only I could get my mind back to the days when all I had to do was whisper (or think) the word Peace and body would instantly relax.
Friday, August 31, 2012
Friday, August 24, 2012
Harlan Coben
Reading book reviews at Yahoo Voices (aka: Associated Content, Yahoo Contributor), came upon an article that began: "There is nothing quite like a well written mystery to capture your attention and Harlan Coben is a master at just that. Coben is one of the best authors around today at writing page turning suspense." It also stated: "Coben's thoroughly satisfying, can't put down books explore human emotion in today's world."
Based on that review, I checked three Harlan Coben mysteries out of the library. Live Wire did not capture my attention with page turning suspense. It simply annoyed me. Without telling the story, will say that author was using a literary devise to create suspense or keep readers reading to find out: What lie did he not want to tell? What were the two words? Were all the Facebook comments relevant to the story or just to add words to it?
I kept thinking of an author's advice to just tell the darn story and get on with it*. I finally put Live Wire down and added it to my Goodreads' gave up on list. I dreaded starting another of his books, but was not in the mood for the only other book I had checked out ~ non-fiction, so began Promise Me.
Some of the things that made Live Wire annoying to me were present in Promise Me. Such as with Brenda, why not just tell the story about what happened to her, rather than allude to it, time and again. At one point, I had to go back to an earlier scene at the grave yard, to determine that she was (not) the same (non) character, now mentioned. Sound-alike names or too many names, not relevant to story line or senior memory issues, who knows.
Was glad I decided to give Promise Me a try. Can not say that suspense was what kept me turning pages well into the night; more that the story captured my interest and kept me reading to find out how it would end.
It is hard for authors of mystery series to let new readers know about main characters, without boring old readers of the series. Walter Mosley is a master at doing that. Coben is not. Not that I could do it, as they say, I am just saying.
No homeless mentions in the novel even though some of the action takes place in NYC. Perhaps the streets on Fifth Avenue are deserted in the wee hours of the morning; I would think, "deserted except for a couple of winos sleeping in a doorway" or some such mention would be more realistic ~ the homeless guy pushing the shopping cart, going through trash bins, and so on.
Food for thought:
Life goes on. That was a good thing, right? The outrage flickers and slowly leaks away. The scars heal. But when you let that happen, your soul goes dead a little too.
*nephew's wife threw away a suitcase of my stuff which included my quote collection so no longer can attribute author (have not located it via web searches) or attest to exact accuracy of quote
Based on that review, I checked three Harlan Coben mysteries out of the library. Live Wire did not capture my attention with page turning suspense. It simply annoyed me. Without telling the story, will say that author was using a literary devise to create suspense or keep readers reading to find out: What lie did he not want to tell? What were the two words? Were all the Facebook comments relevant to the story or just to add words to it?
I kept thinking of an author's advice to just tell the darn story and get on with it*. I finally put Live Wire down and added it to my Goodreads' gave up on list. I dreaded starting another of his books, but was not in the mood for the only other book I had checked out ~ non-fiction, so began Promise Me.
Some of the things that made Live Wire annoying to me were present in Promise Me. Such as with Brenda, why not just tell the story about what happened to her, rather than allude to it, time and again. At one point, I had to go back to an earlier scene at the grave yard, to determine that she was (not) the same (non) character, now mentioned. Sound-alike names or too many names, not relevant to story line or senior memory issues, who knows.
Was glad I decided to give Promise Me a try. Can not say that suspense was what kept me turning pages well into the night; more that the story captured my interest and kept me reading to find out how it would end.
It is hard for authors of mystery series to let new readers know about main characters, without boring old readers of the series. Walter Mosley is a master at doing that. Coben is not. Not that I could do it, as they say, I am just saying.
No homeless mentions in the novel even though some of the action takes place in NYC. Perhaps the streets on Fifth Avenue are deserted in the wee hours of the morning; I would think, "deserted except for a couple of winos sleeping in a doorway" or some such mention would be more realistic ~ the homeless guy pushing the shopping cart, going through trash bins, and so on.
Food for thought:
Life goes on. That was a good thing, right? The outrage flickers and slowly leaks away. The scars heal. But when you let that happen, your soul goes dead a little too.
*nephew's wife threw away a suitcase of my stuff which included my quote collection so no longer can attribute author (have not located it via web searches) or attest to exact accuracy of quote
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