FICTION
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Christina, sister
of Dante Gabriel Rosetti
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Dante Gabriel
Rosetti
Self portrait, 1847
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William Morris
Self portrait, 1856
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BOOK
ILLUMINATIONS
From Merrimon Book Reviews
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Arcadia Falls
by Carol Goodman
When her husband dies
unexpectedly, Meg Rosenthal takes a job in Arcadia, New York at a small
boarding art school to support herself and her daughter Sally. As
a specialist in fairy tales in 19th and 20th century fiction, Meg hopes
to research the school's founder Vera Beech and her partner Lily
Eberhardt. When a senior student plummets to her death from
Arcadia Falls, an incident with an eerie similarity to Lily's death
years ago, Meg seeks to unravel the mystery behind the two
deaths. The more Meg investigates, the more dark secrets she
discovers about the school's past and even secrets about her own
history. As important as the discovery of physical clues is the
exploration of the playing out of individual myth and folklore patterns
within the lives of her characters.
Carol Goodman's ARCADIA FALLS
combines gothic murder mystery with an exploration of the role of art,
family and sacrifice. Meg's examination of the past and present
creates a multi-dimensional tale that unites generations of
women. Several variations of the changeling story play out in the
lives of her characters. The transmutations of this fairy tale
create an artistic and psychological richness within the novel.
Several twists and turns, especially at the end create an intriguing
mystery puzzle. Above all, Carol Goodman captures the dark beauty
of art and the difficulties of women artists who must often choose
between family, economic survival and art as well as the legacies women
leave their children, intentionally or not. ARCADIA FALLS lags a bit in the
middle as threads are woven together but the novel more than makes up
for it as the novel progresses with layer upon layer of intricate
meaning coming together by the end. At times, the narrative voice
has a very slight awkwardness that detracts from the mostly rich,
magical imagery of the novel. While this did not affect thiis
reader's enjoyment of the novel or a high recommendation, a slightly
more fluid flow in the character's voice would make this book even more
exceptional than it is. By the novel's end, ARCADIA FALLS
captures the indescribable beauty and passion of art while posing
several challenging questions. While the mystery itself is
solved, the deeper questions posed linger, making this book an
excellent choice for a women's reading group discussions.
ARCADIA FALLS is a very good gothic mystery but also much more.
ARCADIA FALLS looks at myths and fairy tales in the context of art and
women's lives, and by book's end, encourages readers to look at their
own family stories in new ways.
Publisher:
Ballantine Books (March 9, 2010)
Reviewed by Merrimon,
Merrimon Book Reviews
Review Courtesy of Amazon Vine
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