Gadzooks! An epistolary novel with a whisper of science fiction. A remarkable novel written by Julie C.Gilbert based entirely on letters, journals and once with post-it notes sent to our heroine’s shrink lady, Dr. Sokolowski. Does this story measure up to my favorite epistolary novel, Elizabeth Kostova’s, The Historian?
No, but this is a YA novel, not a dark adult story involving Vlad the impaler. Gilbert is a different kind of writer and I like that. I prefer writers who gamble with artistic techniques that might not be discernible to the provisional reader. Hey listen, I’ve read four novels by China Mieville. Did I earn my stripes? All I’m saying is that I like a novelist who pushes the envelope a tad. This is a well written novel with a little bit of bounce. Good job, Julie!The story itself is about a gifted twelve year old girl named Jillian and her high school babysitter (is there a better word for one who watches a twelve year old?), Danielle. Jillian just moved to New Jersey with her mom and stepdad, Jeffrey, who manages a candy store. Everything is great until one day Jillian and Danielle are kidnapped at home. They find themselves in an unknown lab filled with scientists and researchers headed by a Dr. Devya. Welcome to Devya’s Children! Jillian doesn’t know what they want from her, but quickly realizes that it’s not ransom (certainly not from a candy store manager). She does find out that she was a test tube baby with genetic material from four women and two men and then put into to an artificial womb. She finds out that her real name is Ashlynn and she has seven siblings living in the compound. Is Dr. Devya experimenting with genomes in order to produce gifted children? If the answer is yes, then why? What is Jillian’s gift?
Dr. Devya discloses to Ashlynn that her gift is the ability to shape dreams, in other words, get into someone’s dreams and make them do what you want. And he makes her practice while he holds Danielle hostage. He is not nice to them. Finally, Dr. Devya explains that her twin brother, four year old Benny, has been kidnapped from the Governor of New Jersey, an ardent supporter of Dr. Devya. How can Ashlynn’s twin brother be eight years younger? Well, he was frozen for eight years. Don’t ask why, you will have to read the book for that answer. Anyway, Dr, Devya wants Ashlynn to find out where Benny is being kept so his men can bring him back. Did the rival group of scientists called the Guardian take him?There are a lot of mysteries among these two groups and the gifted children that will culminate into a terrific final hundred pages.
I have to tell you that I do enjoy avant-garde writers and their novels, not that Julie’s book was that far out of the box. But I don’t think that it is easy to tell a story using only letters and journals. All these letters written to Dr. Sokolowski (Dr. S), beginning on page four, were written after the kidnapping was over. I would like to see Julie do an ergodic literature novel involving the same eight gifted children. That would be a trip. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, read Mark Z. Danielewski’s House of Leaves . Anyway, I highly recommend this novel by another female writer ‘on the rise’ (yes, I still love my idioms).
RATING: 5 out of 5 stars
Comment: Lets talk about the two books I mentioned in the review. Elizabeth Kostova’s novel, The Historian was a true epistolary novel and the scariest book that I’ve ever read. Her second book, The Swan Thieves , didn’t quite do it for me, but hopefully she is working on a third novel that will rock me again. Elizabeth says this about her first novel: “To you, perceptive reader, I bequeath my history…
Late one night, exploring her father’s library, a young woman finds an ancient book and a cache of yellowing letters addressed ominously to ‘My dear and unfortunate successor’. Her discovery plunges her into a world she never dreamed of – a labyrinth where the secrets of her father’s past and her mother’s mysterious fate connect to an evil hidden in the depths of history.” And believe me, you future readers, this novel is groundbreaking.
The second novel that I mentioned in the review is not only epistolary, but also ergodic. If you haven’t read this book, do yourself a favor and read it. Goodreads.com says this about the novel, “Years ago, when House of Leaves was first being passed around, it was nothing more than a badly bundled heap of paper, parts of which would occasionally surface on the Internet. No one could have anticipated the small but devoted following this terrifying story would soon command. Starting with an odd assortment of marginalized youth -- musicians, tattoo artists, programmers, strippers, environmentalists, and adrenaline junkies -- the book eventually made its way into the hands of older generations, who not only found themselves in those strangely arranged pages but also discovered a way back into the lives of their estranged children.
Now, for the first time, this astonishing novel is made available in book form, complete with the original colored words, vertical footnotes, and newly added second and third appendices.The story remains unchanged, focusing on a young family that moves into a small home on Ash Tree Lane where they discover something is terribly wrong: their house is bigger on the inside than it is on the outside.
Of course, neither Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist Will Navidson nor his companion Karen Green was prepared to face the consequences of that impossibility, until the day their two little children wandered off and their voices eerily began to return another story -- of creature darkness, of an ever-growing abyss behind a closet door, and of that unholy growl which soon enough would tear through their walls and consume all their dreams.”
What does Goodreads.com think is the number one epistolary novel? Well, it’s Mary Ann Shaffer’s The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society," I wonder how the book got to Guernsey? Perhaps there is some sort of secret homing instinct in books that brings them to their perfect readers.” January 1946: London is emerging from the shadow of the Second World War, and writer Juliet Ashton is looking for her next book subject. Who could imagine that she would find it in a letter from a man she’s never met, a native of the island of Guernsey, who has come across her name written inside a book by Charles Lamb….
As Juliet and her new correspondent exchange letters, Juliet is drawn into the world of this man and his friends—and what a wonderfully eccentric world it is. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society—born as a spur-of-the-moment alibi when its members were discovered breaking curfew by the Germans occupying their island—boasts a charming, funny, deeply human cast of characters, from pig farmers to phrenologists, literature lovers all.
Juliet begins a remarkable correspondence with the society’s members, learning about their island, their taste in books, and the impact the recent German occupation has had on their lives. Captivated by their stories, she sets sail for Guernsey, and what she finds will change her forever.
Written with warmth and humor as a series of letters, this novel is a celebration of the written word in all its guises, and of finding connection in the most surprising ways.”
By the way, the book that came in second is Alice Walker’s classic, The Color Purple . My biggest problem with literature is the fact that I will not live long enough to read all these great books. Oh, well. Is there a book heaven?
Are these the people waiting to analyze Ashlynn’s dreams?
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