A Heart of Stone by Renate Dorrenstein
Book #27 for 2009
Book #4 for Diversity Challenge (American)
After reading The Dream Merchant, I felt a little loopy so I grabbed the first book off my TBR pile just so I could clear my mind, and I didn’t read the back cover (now that I read the summary, I am thinking it wouldn’t have helped) nor did I have any idea what the book was about, as I got it from the book swap at the last BMP party.
I wasn’t planning on reading it, but Tracy Chevalier’s recommendation on the cover (“moving, chilling, powerful”) caught my eye. It started out innocently enough, as a coming-of-age novel high on Americana and it was a compelling read. The protagonist, Ellen, is quite likeable, and I found myself smiling at the quaint family portrait she painted.
A few chapters into the book though, it becomes clear that there is something sinister lurking beneath the surface of the picture-perfect family, and the goosebumps started breaking out. There is a dark mystery at the heart of the book, something that happens after Ellen’s twelfth birthday that continues to haunt her twenty-five years later.
The passages alternate between homey and gruesome, in a disturbing medley. And as the dark family secret was starting to unravel, I couldn’t stop reading, although I was getting increasingly queasy and was stuffing my fist into my mouth to keep myself from screaming and/or getting sick. In a vile sort of way, the book is so engrossing it makes you read through all the trauma, until you feel like you’ve experienced it all as well.
I don’t think I’ll read it again because the first time was traumatizing enough, but it was a very good read that was gripping from start to finish.
***
my copy: trade paperback, now on my BookMooch inventory
my rating: 4/5 stars
