US writer, novel, Salem, kidnapping, schoolgirl, books I didn't finish ( )

There is a lot going on in this book. The story centers on Mary, a girl who was reportedly abducted for one month in 1985, returning to her family with no memory of the time she was gone. The book hints to the events that might have occurred during that time (mainly the interesting relationship between Mary and the man we are led to believe was behind her disappearance), as well as the therapy sessions Mary was forced to endure in her mother’s attempts to determine whether she was actually abducted or not and whether she really remembers what happened during the month she was missing. The book also moves to the present and focuses on Mary’s relationship with her two sisters at the time of their mother’s death in 1999. To me, the book is about different perceptions of reality (what Mary leads people to believe happened and what really did happen), the psychology of repressed memories, and how what was left unsaid about the month Mary was gone and the importance placed on that time by her mother affected the rest of the family. The book was interesting, but parts of it dragged, and I thought the passages about the therapy sessions were all over the place and somewhat confusing. I bet if I read it again, I’d pick up on things I missed the first time, but it’s not a book I’d rush to read over. ( )

First, I have to say, reading an advance reader's copy, which is what I got as a present, is an odd experience. More typoes, less punctuation, some marks where numbers or addresses are to be entered later... it's a bit offputting, but I don't think it ruined the experience.

This book was a fast read, but a good one, for the most part. The story advances along three tracks, one on the course of an abduction of sorts when the main character is 14, one on the course of psychological treatment a few months after the abduction, and one when the character is returning home for her mother's funeral a decade and a half later. The writing style for each of them is set off, so it's easy to tell whose section you're in.

I won't give away much about the story, but the themes are strong: how you believe in the people around you, and the stories you tell each other and yourself. It's pretty strong in this regard, and it's an interesting take. I enjoyed a lot of it.

The dialogue, too, is good and crisp, and the characters are fairly lively. There's a lot of good continuity stuff, as well, so a close reading, even if it is fast, does pay off. There's a lot going for this book.

And yet, it just doesn't feel like it comes together enough; lots of stuff is mentioned offhand or hinted at that seems like it'd be important to hear more about, and it doesn't come in. I'm okay with leaving some stuff to happen offscreen, but I think that the book would have been better with it in. I don't want to say exactly what, but if you're curious, I can tell you individually later.

The conclusion: worth reading, sure, but I'd maybe just borrow it. ( )

At the start of Heidi Julavits' intriguing novel, 16-year old Mary Veal disappears from her private school one afternoon in 1985. Three weeks later, she reappears claiming to have little memory of what happened to her. In the months that follow, numerous psychiatrists attempt to discern whether Mary is a victim of abduction and rape or a liar who engineered her own disappearance for mysterious, sixteen-year old reasons.

Julavits novel switches back and forth between a narrative entitled "What Might Have Happened" that speculates on the events of those lost weeks, notes from the analyst who treated Mary after her reappearance, and the story of 30-year old Mary's return home after the death of her estranged mother. Of these three threads, the first is by far the most compelling. Here Julavits masterfully teases apart the complex motivations that underlie the developing relationship between Mary and the strange man whose car she climbed into that fateful afternoon.

Unfortunately, the other two narrative threads did not hold my attention to the same degree. 30-year old Mary just wasn't as compelling a character as her younger self, and her interactions with her bitchy sisters and other parts of her past dragged at times. While the analyst notes depicting the cat-and-mouse game Mary played with the therapist who was hoping to resurrect his career off of his theories about her were somewhat more interesting, they were also obscure and Freudian to a degree that I found maddening at times.

I finished this book with a mixture of admiration and frustration. The underlying questions about identity, sexuality and repression in this story were fascinating to me, but I closed the book feeling unsatisfied. Though Mary finds resolution at the end of her tale, the author simply did not provide enough information about for me to feel the same. ( )

http://www.fnordinc.com/2007/11-28/th... ( )