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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Powerful and disturbing, 3 Oct 2007
The central character of Prince Rupert's Teardrop is Mary - a 58 year old woman who has recently lost her job and is teased by her neighbours for her eccentric behaviour and unconventional appearance. When her mother - the ninety four year old Meghranoush disappears one day, Mary is unsure whether she has run away after an argument, got lost or been taken.
A serial killer roams the streets of Plymouth, with a prediction for the frail, the vulnerable and the very old. Mary becomes convinced that this psychopath has taken her mother, but she can't tell the authorities because of her own mental history. Who would believe her? Mary undertakes to find this man alone.
What is special about this book is the strong central characterisation. Who cannot relate to Mary as she hides in her neighbours' bushes and dives - semi-naked - into the putrid waters of the boating lake, convinced that she is uncovering clues as to her mother's whereabouts? Despite her mental state, she is resourceful, determined, thoughtful - and takes us to places a more conventional main character could not.
Be warned, however, this book is not for the faint-hearted. A chapter about Meghranoush's past in the Armenian genocide is powerful, raw, horrific. Initially I worried that this obsession with horror was almost exploitative. But this book has a habit of defining things, of expressing things that you know have a distinct, if ugly, truth to them and I began to gain respect for what it is trying to do. It is not afraid to look into the heart of the horror, pull out the entrails and say "look, look at this" until you are forced to acknowledge some of the truth about human beings, our dark capabilities and the nature of fear itself.
It is beautifully written, with a love of and use of language that sets it apart. The language is not just pretty - it is lush, descriptive, coiling around the story with a life of its own - but also providing clues that we can pick up on.
This book is many things: a confrontation with human beings and the violence they are capable of, a dark exploration of the phantoms in our minds, and - what I found most powerful - an exploration of the nature of fear and imagination itself.
As Mary pushes further into the nightmare, we become uncertain as to what is real and what is imagined: the monsters of reality versus the monsters of our minds. In the end, fear itself becomes a monster. Is the psychopath real or Mary's hallucination? Does he exist or is he the product of our collective nightmares?
Lisa Glass handles this delicate balance beautifully - suggesting and giving clues whilst always inviting more questions.
By the time you reach the powerful denouement, you realise this is no ordinary thriller, no ordinary character study, but a work that touches - perhaps uncomfortably - on many troubled truths and questions: beautifully articulated, harrowing, disturbing.
A strong, powerful, beautiful, ugly book: this is a work that dares to look things uncompromisingly in the face, yet can be interpreted in a variety of ways. It will shake you up. Go read it.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Exquisite, 4 Oct 2007
Have you ever wished you were someone else?
Have you ever wished you could stroll through a mind so very different to your own?
Lisa Glass writes so exquisitely that you are there. You become Mary as she embarks on the traumatic search for her missing mother.
As Mary spirals into desperation you will follow deeper and deeper into the recesses of a mind so far removed from the real world that you will be afraid you'll never get back.
But what an experience!
You will become so immersed in her world that you will be desolate when you put the novel down. You will crave the next opportunity to be reunited with a character so unique that you will absorb every delicious detail.
This rich heart-warming story is told with such clarity and emotion that you can't help but feel you have become part of such an extraordinary woman.
So dare you go there? If you don't then you will miss out on one of the most powerful, addictive, all-embracing, warm, involving novels I have read for a very, very long time.
Go on. I dare you.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Exceptional, 18 Oct 2007
Very few books have affected me as deeply as this one. It is a truly
exceptional, unique book. I can't compare it to anything else - it's a
one-off, and reading it is an experience to savour.
The story is disturbing, mesmerising, intoxicating and terrifying - yet
moments of black humour prevent it from becoming melodramatic or
gratuitous.
The writing is exquisite. This is literary fiction at its best. Ms
Glass is a very talented writer indeed. Buy it!!
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