Carol Goodman - The Ghost Orchid

I also picked up "Lake of Dead Languages" on Tin's recommendation, but after a couple chapters I decided to read the book in the teaser chapter at end of the book, instead. This was "The Ghost Orchid."

I thought, based on the first chapter, that this was going to be a story about creative writing types living at an artists' retreat being snobby towards each other. I figured that Carol Goodman would be able to "write what she knew" and show what it is like to live in creativewritingland - the world of "MFA programs and writers' retreats." And in a way, the book is about this. But it is also a supernatural romance novel of exactly the kind that Bethesda looks down on Ellis for writing. XD

The conceit of the story is that everyone living at the retreat - three writers, a poet, and a landscape architect - is inspired by either Aurora (wife of a lumber magnate, and the person who founded the retreat in the 1800s), or the spiritualist who died under mysterious circumstances after a seance to revive Aurora's dead children. A chapter set in the present day, about Ellis writing her historical mystery, is proceeded by a chapter set in the 1800s, about the events leading up to and following Corinth's death.

At first I thought that these events were meant to *be* Ellis' novel, as she was writing it - especially because the first such chapter is not very well written, ahaha - but the further the novel goes, the more the two sets of events don't quite line up - for instance, something is revealed in the past but it's not shown how Ellis, in the present, would have found out about it. On reflection, the 19th century parts are probably supposed to either be what actually happened, or Ellis' book after she has finished with it sometime after the novel ends. Which means that the first chapter of her book is not badly written on purpose, alas.

...Or perhaps it was badly written on purpose, but Carol Goodman didn't bother to be absolutely internally consistent with her story. :p On the whole, I enjoyed this book. The infighting among writers carries the story in the beginning, the "twists" and backstory keep you reading in the middle, and by the end of the novel, the supernatural elements have gotten so crazy that you've forgotten about the minor problems of the first two parts. XD. However, I wished I'd kept better notes as the story went along, because this is a novel that shows its seams. I'm pretty sure that the plot twists are surprising, not just because they are unexpected, but also because there were a lot of false hints dropped, for instance. XD But, on the whole, the story is interesting enough to be worth reading anyway.

Here's my beginning-novel complaint:

( Nitpicking Part One )

Here's my middle-of-the-novel complaint:

( Nitpicking Part Two )

And here's what I thought by the end:

( No spoilers! )

What else can be said about this book? Well, it is full of Indians, for one thing. XD The main character and another writer are part-Indian, the 19th centurry spiritualist Corinth is half-Indian but feels much closer to her (Indian) mother, there are tons of pregnant Indian ghosts said to be running around, and Wanda, the maid, is a full Indian. There are also lots of references to (living!) Indian communities. I don't know enough tribal lore to know whether these portrayals are respectful, but the lack of erasure was nice.

ayalesca might appreciate the bitter - but charming! - one-time genius WASP writer who is wasting his talent, after a stunning debut novel about his mean grandfather, bumming around smoking pot and pretending to write. :p

Allegra Goodman - The Family Markovitz

This novel, on the other hand, doesn't show its seams at all - even though (reading the reviews) it was originally published as a series of short stories.

About a Jewish family, told from various POVs. I guessed that the younger son was gay and had slept with his boss, and he was (and had!). However, he eventually finds more happiness by moving to England, marrying a sensible woman who enjoys his nervousness, and becoming an eccentric landowner.

Throughout the story, Ed (the older brother) is the least sympathetic family member, but he eventually becomes sympathetic by... being the adult? Having the most stable family life? Being the person that the mother can move back to in her old age, and the eccentric childless couple can come to visit? In which case, does he become sympathetic because of his wife?

....And because of his work (writing about the basis for peace in the Middle East), and because he mellows out in his old age.

The book is sort of like The Documents in the Case in that it opens from a perspective (Rose's) that is in some ways the most narrow, and has the least in common with the other perspectives. I like Rose though. She is elderly and addicted to painkillers, which is a combination that occurs way more often in real life than it does in fiction, I think.

Overall, the book is not quite as sympathetic towards its characters as Kaaterskill Falls, which was a book that managed to find the beauty in even the most hidebound Orthodox person. The two really unsympathetic characters in this story are Karen, the postdoc who won't marry a Jewish boy... and Ed's oldest daughter, the medical student who turns ultra-Orthodox. :p

There is a chapter towards the end where Allegra Goodman recounts a Seder - ALL of a Seder, including who came, what they said, how they said it, and what they ate afterward. I thought this was actually pretty interesting, because every Jewish family does the Seder differently, so it was interesting to see how theirs was like mine, and how it was different. I wonder if this section is as interesting to people who aren't Jewish.

( One final note )

I took Naomi Novik's new book out from the library! I heard it wasn't as good as the other books - that it is a bridge book - but I am going to read hoping that it will meet my lowered expectations. I also took out another Carol Goodman book (The Night Villa), and another Allegra Goodman book (Paradise Park). Michael Lewis' new book (The Big Short) is on backorder.

If you would like to see any of my other recently read books reviewed here, please let me know.