Book Review-In Search of the Magic Theater By Karla Huebner

This book is an interesting choice for me, mainly because this is not usually the kind of book that's on my radar. I am usually a reader of mysteries and classic literature; this is a bit out of my comfort zone. The fact of the matter is that I do not even know how to categorize the book, which is an exciting option for me. I was looking to expand my horizons and I decided to read this book.

The book is structured much like Steppenwolf by Hermann Hesse, one of my favorite books from my youth. There are two main characters who take turns narrating. The first one is Kari, a  middle aged, divorced woman who is looking for her former self, somebody who she was before she was diverted by a marriage that wasn't horrible, but also wasn't what she wanted

The other character is Sarah, a young woman who had just come of age, someone who is devoted to her art: the cello, but really unsure of herself, even though she stubbornly believes that she sees and knows her path.

The story revolves around art. Which is another delightful part of the book. Through Sarah’s cello playing and Kari’s experience working in the theater, the reader gets exposed to the inner workings of a musician and a theater person. It is evident that the author has great passion and knowledge about both subjects, as well as art in general, for she slowly and gently exposes the reader to many of the nuances of the arts. It was a welcomed lesson in areas that I had very little knowledge.

The story starts with a gentle pace. It introduces us to the characters and using first person narrative of the two women.  The link is that Kari is renting a room from Sarah’s aunt after her divorce. The initial narratives were the two women speaking about themselves and about their initial impressions of each other. There was judgement and descriptions of their environment in the rooming house, which gives us an idea of who each of the characters are. The story proceeds at a languid pace, which is quite welcomed, it slowly builds the characters through small and not overly dramatic revelations as the plot moves along at a comfortable pace. We learn about the two women, their inner thoughts, how they see the world, and how they see themselves in the external world.  The really clever part is that the author approaches the characters from different points of view which gives us a nice juxtaposition of the two characters, their worldview, their way of looking at their own and each other’s lives. Kari is world weary, and she's lost her compass after her divorce.

Sarah, on the other hand, is much more constrained emotionally because she's a 22-year-old reacting to her lot in life. As we progress through the two stories, they began to intertwine, and morph into a single narrative.  Upon first reading the book, I thought this two-person narrative would be a difficult constraint for the storyteller, but in fact the author did a phenomenal job of describing the two characters in each of their unique voices, giving us discernable impressions at how the  the characters saw themselves and how they saw each other as the story slowly but surely builds up momentum.

In parallel with the story, the author gives us lessons in music: both classical and contemporary music of my youth since the story is set in that particular era.  The reader also gets lessons in mythology, experimental stagecraft, philosophy, amongst many others. It was quite gently and subtly informational, the erudition kept the story going  while also keeping the readers delighted.

The story accelerates as it moves to  the reader begin to know and care for Kari and Sarah in different ways.  The individual sections begin to stop being readings and started to become  a conversation with Kari and Sarah.

The story line accelerates very quickly at the very end of the story to the inevitable and surprising denouement. It took turns where I didn't anticipate. By the time I got to the end of the story, I found myself attached to and involved with both characters as well as being surprised at the ending.

This novel works on many levels for the reader. The mix of the story, the knowledge, and the characters lead the reader into this world of the Magic Theater, where they find themselves in a most magical place.

Book Review-Murder in Chianti By Camilla Trinchieri

I have come to love the mystery novel genre. I follow many mystery series by various authors and the nature of select mystery series has pulled me in. The genre keeps my mind fluid active without overburdening it, although the series that I like keeps my marbles lubricated and my mind in suspense.

The series that I follow, and there are quite a few of them, prominently features certain aspects of life that is particularly attracts my interest. Most are set in other countries, mostly but not exclusively European; they are set in the countryside; the story involves some details about travel,  history, art, music, and of course food, lots of food. So it is with great expectations that I started reading Murder in Chianti by Camilla Trinchieri. The copy of the paperback that I bought has a very complimentary statement from Martin Walker, the author of the Bruno, Chief of Police series. One of the authors that I follow loyally. I thought this was a good sign

This book is the first in a series of three books that Trinchieri has written featuring the main character, Nico Doyle. She has written other books outside of this series, but that I haven't read her other books.

I really wanted to like this novel. It had all the right elements to attract my attention. It is set in Italy, it had the food element, the wine making element, the relaxed and simple countryside lifestyle,  and the dreamy, easygoing nature of living in rural Italy. I felt like this was an easy entree for me. At the very beginning of the book, it was as I expected. I enjoyed being introduced to the main character, Nico Doyle. He is a widowed ex-cop who moved to his wife’s hometown in Italy. He is involved with her family: her favorite niece and her immediate  family, who operates a small restaurant. He lives by himself in a small house that used to be a warehouse for a winery. Perfect.

The pace of the story telling was soothingly slow and detailed, always a good start. But, as the story moved along at the deliberate pace, certain things that just didn't click with me. I thought she did a very nice job introducing us to the main characters,  they were all well sussed out, and she was able to get us to know them and to show us their humanity, both good and bad. The main characters that I felt were best described were the main protagonist, Nico Doyle, and the representative of the carabinieri in town, Salvatore Perillo. The rest of the characters were not so well drawn out because this is the first book in the series so we have not had time to build a history with the others.

The plotting was the main issue with that I had with this book. I didn't think the plot was very believable and I thought the murder mystery and the resolution of the mystery was lacking in facts and a cogent path which led them to their conclusion. I thought the way she handled the unraveling of the facts of the case were haphazardly done. I didn’t understand why she introduced some of the characters, unless she was planning on using them later on in the series, because they did little or no work in this book, nor did it make sense for them to be in the story other than as decoration.

I did like the way she goes into detail about lifestyles of the individuals in the village as well as the general pace and rhythm of the village. She worked hard at it, that was well written. Some of the auxiliary characters, those who would be witnesses or suspects,  are not very well drawn out but then again, they were not expected to be a lot of weight because this is the first book in the series. The rhythm and the way the story moved along just did not grip me.

I also got the sense that the author was trying to hurry the reader along with the plot, that the author did not fully develop the psychology of each of the characters.

So in summary, I felt that the plot was flat,  the buildup of the case was weak, and the big denouement, where Nico and Perillo figure out how and who of the murder was weak. The conclusion was something that came out of the left field. I felt like the author just decided to stick something in there just to finish the book because it was time to finish the book. She created something that was not even hinted at in the rest of the book.

I am at two minds about the book and series. I was expecting more from the promising premise. I am unsure about whether I wanted to read the second book. There was a 15 page teaser at the end of the this book from the second book, but it doesn't look promising, but it's only 15 pages. I may or may not commit to this series although I would like to see how the characters are developed. I do like the two main protagonists however. To be fair, some of my favorite series took three or four books to get rolling and overcome the awkwardness of the beginning.  There is hope for this yet. I am hoping so, but I am still of two minds about whether I want to commit or not.