Stevie‘s review of The Qualities of Wood by Mary Vensel White
Literary Mystery Fiction published by Authonomy 31 January 12
Having raved about the joys of finding exciting new authors through being offered books to review, I suppose I do have to talk about the downside – the problem of books that turn out to be less fun than I would have hoped from the blurb. The Qualities of Wood isn’t exactly a bad book, and I’m sure it would appear to some readers who aren’t me, but for much of the time reading, it felt like wading through treacle. Actually, make that Golden Syrup; treacle brings up too many connotations of traditional remedies rather than something that can be reasonable in small quantities. Sadly, there is too much of it here.
The novel falls somewhere between literary fiction and the more atmospheric end of the mystery genre, although the mystery element is rather disappointing in the end. I’d hesitate to classify it as a romance; the central couple are together at the start, and while there are some very good reasons, in my opinion, for the heroine to tell her husband where to go, she never does, meaning there is no real change in their relationship. I’m not entirely sure it even counts as women’s fiction, as I’d like to see at least a degree of empowerment of the heroine taking place in the context of the story. So, I suppose I’d better summarise the story and let other potential readers decide for themselves on this one.
The story opens with Vivian meeting up with her husband Nowell for the first time in four weeks. Nowell is an author, who has thus far had one book published, although I don’t think we ever find out what he did for a living before receiving his advance for that. He’s working on a second book, and Vivian has given up her job in the city to help him fix up the house that belonged to Nowell’s deceased grandmother. Nowell has supposedly been working on the house with his brother in Vivian’s absence, but now he’s going to work on his second book while she works on the house. In actual fact, neither of them seems to do much for a large proportion of the book other than befriend, or become suspicious of, the various inhabitants of the nearby small town and, in Vivian’s case, ponder whether the death of a local girl on the edge of their land was really an accident.
For much of the book, I really wanted to slap Vivian for the way she just goes along with her husband’s wishes and makes horribly insensitive comments to and about her neighbours, as well as about people with disabilities (okay, there’s just one example of that, but it nearly made me stop reading). Nowell’s brother comes to stay, bringing his new wife, and they turn out to be equally slapable. None of the women have jobs, and they seem to spend a fair bit of their time drinking cocktails, leading me to wonder whether this part of the US Midwest was either stuck in a 1950s Ad Executive’s daydream or actually a 21st Century Stepford.
The real squick for me, though, comes right towards the end when Nowell admits to Vivian that he had met and been attracted to the girl who died, and she just shrugs it off. Checking back, the girl is reported as being 17, but from the way she is referred to – especially with the parallels to Vivian’s childhood – she comes across to me as being younger.
Admittedly, the book does pick up its pace in the penultimate chapters, only to slow down again right at the end, but I really feel that nothing in it serves to move the characters forward or cause major developments in their characters or relationships, and so I feel I can’t recommend it to anyone I actually know.
Grade: D
Summary:
A haunting and beautifully written debut novel by an exciting new talent.
When Betty Gardiner dies, leaving behind an unkempt country home, her grandson and his young wife take a break from city life to prepare the house for sale. Nowell Gardiner leaves first to begin work on his second mystery novel. By the time his wife Vivian joins him, a real mystery has begun: a local girl has been found dead in the woods behind the house. Even after the death is ruled an accident, Vivian can’t forget the girl, can’t ignore the strange behaviour of her neighbours, or her husband. As Vivian attempts to put the house in order, all around her things begin to fall apart.
‘The Qualities of Wood’ is a stunning novel from an exciting new writer. Perfect for readers of Anne Tyler and Anita Shreve.
Read an excerpt.
