Shakespeare's Counselor

"Shakespeare's Counselor" is the final book in the Lily Bard series. I was surprised to find that I took great pleasure in this series. In some ways it is one long novel, charting Lily's journey from isolated, insomniac, night-walker, to a woman with a life that she has built through her strength, her integrity and finally by being courageous enough to allow herself to have something to lose.

The final book thankfully doesn't go down the path of unlikely happy endings. Bad things happen to Lily in this book and, at the end of it, she still has significant problems, but the book delivers credible growth for her and the people around her.

One of the ways this growth is achieved is that Lily enters therapy, with the Counselor of the title, show more to try to end the nightmares that rule her sleep. I was surprised at this. I'm not a fan of therapy. I'm with Willy Russel in changing Pschotherapist into Psycho The Rapist. I've never been convinced that the response to trauma should be a platitude-driven talking-tour of the route back to normalcy. I very much doubt that, after a significant trauma, normal is an option.

I was pleased to see that the therapy in the book worked less because of the skill of the counselor, than because the rape survivors in the group were willing to extend their trust and support to each other. There are some hard-to-take tales in therapy sessions. Sadly, none of them are difficult to believe. I was impressed that, even in therapy, Lily did not change her view that people are not naturally good and safety can only be obtained through vigilance and strength. Her counselor found the view bleak and wondered how Lily could live with it. I see it as a reasonable, fact-based conclusion, that provides a foundation for good choices.

The plot of "Shakespeare's Counselor" is a little complex, requiring some suspension of disbelief as the bad guys are not exactly run of the mill. The action is occasionally violent and brutal. The events in Lily's personal life add grief to an already tough situation and challenge Lily's definition of herself and her future.

By the end of the series, Lily has moved from loner cleaner, to an apprentice private detective with a husband and friends in a community that she now feels part of. Yet this is not a "Hallmark" sugar-sweet transformation. This book, even more than the rest of the series, is raised above the mundane by the authenticity of Lily's rage against what was done to her and the strength of her commitment to live her life to her own standards. It's a fine close to a series that I am sure I will read again.

I listened to the audiobook version of this series, performed by Julia Gibson. She did a wonderful job, not just in being "the voice of Lily Bard" but also in creating and sustaining voices for the other characters. She was the perfect choice for these books. show less

I have loved every single one of Charlaine Harris’ books in the Lily Bard series, and I feel as if I were about to declare a favorite child. Reluctant though I may be, the fifth novel — and, sadly, final — in this fantastic series is probably my favorite.

Lily Bard has been carrying the trauma of her abduction and rape for years. It’s changed her so much that her own family doesn’t really know her. But the years haven’t made anything easier, so, at the behest of her boyfriend Jack Leeds, Lily joins a rape survivors group therapy weekly meeting. Lily’s surprised about what she discovers in the counseling sessions, but she’s more taken aback about what is traumatizing the group’s counselor, a Yankee transplant named show more Tamsyn Lynd. I couldn’t stop listening!

I have loved every moment with Lily Bard — well, maybe not every minute, as she’s suffered some pretty harrowing experiences; I’m simply grieved that this appears to be the final book in the series. Shakespeare’s Counselor was released in 2001, and, since then, Harris has moved on to different — and more lucrative — things, like the True Blood TV series on HBO. It’s pretty bittersweet to have to say goodbye to Lily Bard and her friends, but the final novel helped to soften the blow. show less

This is the fifth and last book of Harris’s series taking place in Shakespeare, Arkansas and featuring Lily Bard.

Four years previously, Lily was the victim of a vicious knifing and gang rape attack. Now she is married, but she still hasn’t come to grips with the fear and pain. Her husband Jack suggests she see a rape counselor, and she reluctantly joins a group in town led by Tamsin Lynd.

It soon turns out that Lynd herself is being victimized by a dangerous stalker, and when the bodies start piling up, the past traumas of all of the women in the group bubble to the surface.

Discussion: This book, in the guise of a cozy mystery, is actually an excellent exploration of the problems of women and violence. In the rape counseling group, show more the women discuss all the pertinent issues that commonly are debated, such as who is to blame:

"The problem of responsibility was a knotty one. Women dress provocatively to attract sexual attention and admiration, because that’s gratifying. I believed that very few women would wear a push-up bra, a low-cut blouse, high heels, tight skirts, if they were going to stay home working on the computer, for example. But sexual attention does not equate with rape. I knew of no woman who would walk out the door for an evening of barhopping with the idea that maybe she would enjoy being forced at knifepoint to give a blow job to a stranger. And very few women walked alone at night hoping a man would offer them a choice between sex and strangulation.”

Two of the women in the group had actually killed their assailants. One had no regrets whatsoever, and one wondered whether God would have preferred that she die herself rather than commit murder.

They discuss how women can overcome violence and keep themselves safe. Not all the women in the group agree on all issues, enabling Harris to present multiple viewpoints.

Still, this isn’t just a dark story. Harris comes through with her typical brand of understated humor:

"Tamsin: “Okay, while I was in there, I dropped everything. I spilled all my papers from my notebook and knocked my pop over.”

Lily: “After a brief vision of Tamsin pushing down an old man with white hair, I realized she meant she’d spilled a soft drink. Maybe it was a northern or Midwestern thing?"

Evaluation: Have I said lately how much I love Charlaine Harris? Her books are quick reads, but always worth the time, in my opinion. show less

Shakespeare's Counselor
4 Stars

In the final book of the series, Lily decides its time to get some therapy for her PTSD after she nearly kills Jack in her sleep. Unfortunately, the nightmares of her past become the reality of her present, when the body of a woman killed in a horrific manner is left on display at the counseling center. Which one of Lily's fellow group members has become the target of a vicious killer?

Warning: Readers who have difficulty with themes of sexual abuse and rape may wish to rethink their choice of book.

Lily has come a lone way since the prickly loner of the first book. While she is still in possession of the tough, no-nonsense attitude that made her so appealing to me (but not necessarily to others), she has show more also healed sufficiently to cultivate solid friendships and a wonderful romance with Jack. If there is one disappointing development in this regard it is that Lily has to suffer the additional trauma of a miscarriage -hasn’t she suffered enough?. That said, this sad event only serves to bring Lily and Jack even closer and gives them both hope for the future.

The psychotic stalker mystery is compelling and Harris certainly knows how to build the tension and draw in the reader. The twist at the end is a little on the predictable side but the resolution is original and exciting.

All in all, I am sad to read the last of Lily’s adventures as she and her friends have been a highlight of my 2014 reading year. Looking forward to reading more of Harris’s books in the future. show less

This book was a bit of an upset, for me. I love the character Lily, very much. And I sincerely love that she is furthering her relationship with Jack, her love interest, and is able to hang in there and keep this new relationship afloat, without trying to screw it up (consciously or unconsciously) on purpose. I love that Lily loves Jack. But these new developments in the relationship, and the series, are completely unlike anything the characters would do, in my opinion. I was left wondering WHY.
Then to have her act as she did in this novel seemed.... kinda like the author was taking massive leaps and bounds in her recovery from the past. I don't agree with these changes, I don't think this character, having gone through The Bad Thing, show more would have done these things, and I was rather put off at the novel because of it all.
Lily would NOT have gone off and married Jack, out of the blue. She suffered from a HUGE inability to have a real relationship, much less taken a giant commitment like this - she is pretty much a commitment-phobe, because of the rape and abuse in the past.
Then the author has the characters say... "well we got married a month ago...." and didn't even write about it?? Or anything? man, that's cruel. The novel seemed to be rather like a car out of control.

Then Lily starts having health problems... and finds out she's pregnant?? that's CRAP. There is no way these newly wedded couple can handle something like that without wanting to at least run away and hide. but they do, AND solve a murder or two, in the process of her recuperation from losing the baby.
A MISCARRIAGE??? Right after getting an implant to stop unwanted pregnancies? And they are SAD they lost it......? I am at a loss. this doesn't seem like the same series it was, in the past three books. I don't know who these people are, anymore.
I must say, having BOTH the couple in question be the Bad Guys, was just the topping on the confusion-cake that is this novel. I was beyond confused, and left feeling very very disappointed and lost. I sincerely hope this problem wasn't caused by the author's writing of three different series at the same time. I am taking a break from them all, and the author, for a while. show less

3.5

Besides the first, this closing book is probably the best of the series.

Lily Bard may still be stiff and socially awkward, but she's grown on me more. A lot of her past gets explored as she attempts a help support group after attacking Jack in her sleep during a routine nightmare. The women's group meetings were interesting - I do think they should have been followed up with a bit more in the second half, but they dropped off the radar page completely. I also wish we could have witnessed the reaction of her parents and family about a development with her and Jack, not to mention a big tragedy that happens to her in this book. I know she feels strange around them now, but keeping that kind of information that cut off from such good show more people is ridiculous.

Bobo makes a few scenes, which I enjoyed. I do wish that may have been explored a bit more, but oh well, no way to realistically do it. Jack stays true to character, although I still don't find much realism with him. There's a few new characters that come on-board for plot sake only.

The mystery is rather weak since the pool of suspects is ridiculously small - 3. By the end of the book I didn't really care who the villain ended up being. Still, the murders and twists with it were interesting enough to keep reading. I dug detective Stokes.

There is a big development in the book about something which happens to Lily. It's dark but realistic. There is not much follow-up with it, but this isn't a romance novel where everything is magically okay in the end, so that's okay. This is a personal tragedy which I think Charlaine Harris wrote quite well, from Jack's emotions to Lily's. The details were graphic enough and she didn't shy away from showing this new development to the reader. It doesn't have to do with the mystery much, although it connects very loosely in the end. The point was that this is a series about changes within Lily Bard, who I've followed for five books now.

At the end, Lily is open to more change and knowing she has become a shadow of the girl she used to be, but not seeing a way to reconnect, or if even trying that would be why. It doesn't end on a hopeless and bleak note, but it's doesn't end up on a bubbling, happy spirit. That's just never who Lily Bard will be again. show less

I liked the story itself, but the additional series enders were forced and unnecessary. I will never understand why Charlaine Harris cannot end a series without wanting us to understand how the characters fared through serious life situations, but only in the last book. If you want us to see them react to real-world problems, give us those throughout the series. Sad that this is it for Lily as she was one of the better heroines I've read recently.