This is the fourth Corinna Chapman book. The first was the best, by a long way, but this one is, as the others all were, an instant comfort I'm happy.
This is the fourth Corinna Chapman book. The first was the best, by a long way, but this one is, as the others all were, an instant comfort reread.
Lots of chewy secondary historical research into the Holocaust, which I'll have to go back and reread with critical faculties engaged (and maybe hunt down some of her bibliography, because it looks really interesting - and how much do I love that she always includes a biblio? THIS much) because I admit it, I spent this first read-through just coasting on the back-in-this-series happy.
The blurb copy makes it sound like a really stupid jealousy subplot was going to be a major part of the novel. I bought it anyway because new Corinna Chapman! and because I trust Kerry Greenwood. My trust was not misplaced: the jealousy subplot was not nearly as much of a subplot, or as much jealousy, as the blurb made it out to be. Which is good, because if it had been the way the blurb made it sound? *Really* stupid.
The subplot that wasn't so great for me was Meroe vs the bad Wiccans. I think it'd have worked better for me if she'd laid a bit more stress on how what Barnabas was doing was cultlike, rather than how it was profane. I can buy that Meroe would think of it in those terms (although it wouldn't hurt to note just how much diversity of belief and practice there is even among even Wiccans of the same tradition, and Meroe's a solitary working I don't know what particular tradition of Wicca, but clearly with eclectic choices of her own, including but not limited to her own family heritage) but would Daniel, the open-minded skeptic - Daniel, who busted up the God-Boy's cult at the beginning of Heavenly Pleasures?
For anyone on my friends list reading this who feels like giving the Corinna books try, be warned that they're about fifty per cent 'yes! yes! like that!' (e.g. fat-hatred is poisonous, parents don't always act like parents should) and fifty per cent flapping your hands and spluttering 'but- but- but...' (e.g. the entire resolution of the main plot of Devil's Food, and this is hardly the only occasion where a major plot point falls under 'but- but- but...') I haven't tried it, but am given to understand from the author's notes in the back of every recent novel that emailing her with 'but- but- but...' is a Bad Idea. This (the sense that discussing the books' flaws and weaknesses is bad and/or on a par with shouting 'gotcha!') shifts the series further into the guilty pleasures column for me, but they're very pleasant guilty pleasures, so I'll keep reading and rereading....more
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