A bit of a blind "buy" for me (thumbs up to local libraries). The only reason I know this book existed was because - I think - I found something about it on Vancouver Public Library recommendations, or a "New and Exciting Fiction" list somewhere. Tired, bored, and a bite curious, I decided to place it on hold.The Facts
Length: 387 pages.
Publisher: HarperCollins.
This is Lawrenson's first novel.
Quick Summary
Protagonist "Eve" falls in love with the older Dom, and they move into a decaying but lovable house in a whirlwind romance. Set in Les Genévriers, France, in 2011, Eve soon suspects that Dom is hiding something about his former wife, whom he absolutely refuses to talk about, and Eve's idyllic romance soon shatters as winter descends.
Every chapter, the novel switches perspective to that of Bénédicte Lincel, a farmgirl born in 1925. Bénédicte takes us through her troubled relationship with her family, but the two narratives converge into one at the end of the novel.
The Bad
I think this might be "chick lit."
I've read maybe two novels that hands-down pandered almost entirely to female readers (I'm not including anything written in the Victorian era, viz. Brontë or Austen). One was about an ugly twin who was helping to piece together the disappearance of her more famous sister with the help of the latter's ex-husband, who also happened to have popped the former's cherry and is, in fact, her true love. The other was about something about a string of murders; anyway, the protagonist falls in love with the steamy cop next door. I never finished it. I got as far as I could in one beach day and then never read any of my mother's "summer reads" ever again. Entirely forgettable, but my mind was drawn back to them on the appearance of Dom, the mysterious and brooding Bluebeard of a romantic interest in The Lantern. He's got a dark past and Eve discovers inconsistencies in his life story. He refuses to talk about his ex-wife Rachel. His emotional highs often only showcase his boundless anger. His actions scream guilty, but we all know he's innocent. We've seen this guy before.
The Good
But before you chuck this book away, it has its moments. Published in 2011, it references "La Crise", the financial simmering that's been going on for the past three years. That took me by surprise (after all, I had just read Robinson Crusoe before this - modernity!? In my books!?). "La Crise" isn't a large portion of this novel, by any means, but it was still a relevant touch, especially in Eve and Dom's reaction to it.
The Questionable
I also found that Lawrenson did something I've never really seen before; she relies heavily on olfactory sensation to tell the story. One of the characters in the novel, for example, is Marthe Lincel, a blind perfume-maker (whose sense of smell has apparently increased with the decay of her sight, ala Daredevil). Because she's just so damn good at her calling, she can capture scents that other characters only subconsciously remember. But, like Bénédicte observes, it's almost impossible to pin down and describe scent. Frankly, I find that the theme of scent in The Lantern falls on its face (or nose!), perhaps for this very reason. But I've never stopped to smell the roses.
The Good
I loved the chilling, crime-scene Octoberish mood in The Lantern. Casual references by locals to "missing girls" never go unnoticed. Local hunters accidentally shoot joggers in the woods. Pierre, the brother to Bénédicte and Marthe, was freaky as shit (unfortunately, like Dom, perhaps a bit of a cliché). The fate of Bénédicte's father makes you wonder if the family is truly cursed, as rumored, or if there's some dark presence of human feeling at play, and which one is more frightening.
The Bad
The subtitle. I rage every time I see "A Novel."
Final Thoughts
I'd be hesitant to recommend this to readers used to crunching down on "finer" literature (Can you taste the elitism? Can you taste it?!). The story doesn't seem to be anything particularly new, and Dom's characterization as a watered-down Rochester leaves something to be desired. If I see Lawrenson again, however, she'd be a good enough writer to give a second glance. She definitely has the vocabulary (which, in my pea-brained head, seemed a tad overwhelming, at times - I mean "the effervescence of citrus zest"? What the hell?) of someone schooled in languages, and she did provoke thought on some more modern social developments (is Dom as morally "clean" as we might expect, after he reveals his full story? Where was the line in his dilemma?). I don't regret that I read it, but I wish there was more meat in it.
Arbitrary Score: 2.5 out of 5.
Next book: The Graveyard Book, by Neil Gaiman (2008)
