RA log: the Book of Madness and Cures by O'Melveny

I found this title on the new book shelf of one of the Colorado libraries I visited. It looked good to me based on a cover using a portrait from the 1400s and the jacket plot synopsis. 56 pages in and the text flows with soft imagery built by an excellent use of language. It reminds me of what I loved about Jane Austen, though I am very aware this is a modern author structuring her language to echo (what we think we know of?) the Renaissance without overburdening her readers with difficult forms.

Quotes illustrating the author's language:

"And what life is worth living if it shuns those who provide love and consolation?" p43
"My dear, I'd greatly appreciate it if you could resuscitate my daughter's reason." p24 

And a whole passage:

How I treasure the dark nights when my candle is the only one lit, perhaps, in the entire city. It may be that when no one else is about, I find greater entrance to my soul. It is not a simple matter of uninterrupted time. No, it is the darkened theater just after the play, the street after the festival, the emptiness that holds the semblances. there is something hallowed about the late hours that suspend one's life. To be apart, to be silent, to pace or lay down the heart's agitation. To find in words the plangent* bell that calls one home. And if by chance I should move tot he window and see another window, far down the street, lit for a scholar or a corpse vigil or even a midnight birth, we are instantly bound by the intimacy of our solitude. p57

 *(of a sound) loud, reverberating, and often melancholy; early 19th Century; 

And now for the exercise:

What does the cover say about the book?

Cover of a woman, with small circles of dots and images of the context- Vienna, medicine, cures. Aimed at over 25 crowd. Male or Female; Uses a painting from the 1400s, but the design is modern.; Genre- not suspense, not thriller, not horror, not obvious romance; a debut novel, author is a poet
Title in larger font size than author name; Title in gold- for a book about "Madness and Cures," gold reminds us it is the ultimate cure or purity.

 

Jacket Blurbs

Plot- father goes missing; daughter follows his trail to find him, in a setting where women were not permitted such indulgent freedoms. There is a brief bio- author is a poet- thus the sound rich language. Recommendation, "marvelous, inventive story," by Kathleen Kent of The Traitor's Wife & The Heretic's Daughter; who, from the title of her books is an author of other books about women challenging their roles. 

Typeface
Easy typeface, plenty of white space so the book will be easily read by anyone in teens and over.
First three words of a chapter are in bold, just to reaffirm the new chapter. Just one typeface used and there are no illustrations.

Physical Characteristics of the Book
Heft: At 320 pages, not heavy- a good weight
No problems carrying it around in my bag- I barely notice its presence.
Hardcover
Easily opened, lays almost flat.

Sample Passages (see above quotes)
The story starts with action- immediately we are aware that father is gone, the main character's livelihood as a physician is removed and she decides to go after her father. We learn the back story through thoughts and memories. In the middle it begins slowing down. The pieces of her father she picks up along the way don't really reveal anything about him, but we learn plenty about the main character and how she begins to regret the journey. In the end, she finds her dad, he dies, her Scotsman lover catches up with her in time to find out, surprise! she's prego. Life ends happily ever after.

Appeal Factors

1. I find the pacing to be even- Things are happening, but not so fast I cannot catch my breath. There is more description than dialogue, but the description is from a 1st person ptv, so it comes off as internal dialogue. Plot is revealed quickly- within a few chapters we- both the Gabriella and the reader learn of her father's madness, which may be what is driving his disappearance.  This is a pretty linear plot and it begins to get tedious by about 3/4 of the way in. Stuff happens, the most heart breaking is that my favorite character dies. Gabriella also falls in love with someone, but is too afraid to stick around to make something of it and she leaves, but no surprise, she's pregnant, which really should be not a surprise to her b/c she's a doctor and doesn't she know how to prevent these things?
2. Frame: We know where Gabriella is by the water and when by the letters and language- I suppose it helps to have the location and date marked at the beginning of the first passage like a news column. The background is minimal- it is not another character and only surfaces when someone is reflecting upon it. No previous knowledge is essential.
3. The story emphasizes people with an exploration of the interior- what is going on in the mind. It is contemplative, with just enough humor to keep the reader from sinking into melancholy with Gabriella's father.
4. While I am on Gabriella's journey, my favorite character by far is the husband of her maid servant, Lorenzo. The servants may be typecast, it remains to be seen if Gabriella grows as a character as she traces her father's steps. The father's character grows a little by revelation- we meet him through Gabriella's eyes, but there's not enough and in the end, finding him was a disappointment to me.
5. The appeal is a character who is a misfit for her time- she is of it in dress and manner, but she continually challenges the roles placed before her- first by her mother to become a "simple" girl, secondly by her profession- medicine- to cease her practice, thirdly by her associates to cease her quest for her father.

Other Factors

1. A Renaissance doctor, barred from practice due to her sex, seeks her errant father so she may reunite her family and resume her practice under his patronage.
2. Genre: I think this is "regular fiction." I wouldn't even categorize it as historical romance... perhaps historical fiction.
3. Not a part of a series.
4. First novel of a poet author, so language is lovely, but the pacing slows down dramatically, even though I know this to be a character book, toward the end I was hoping it would... you know end.

Connecting to Other Books and Readers
I would connect this book to other ones exploring the female in society. The physical journey corresponds to the mental journey of the main character, though I felt like she was taking a long time to "get it." Other books- like Ann Patchet's State of Wonder. And Lady Cyclist's Guide to Kashgar, by Suzanne Joinson or Kate Pullinger's Mistress of Nothing. I think a youngish (20 something) adult reader might enjoy this. Most likely women.

Moyer, J.E., & Stover, K. M., eds. (2010). The Reader's Advisory Handbook. American Library Association: Chicago, IL.