.514 -- Book Review: The Book of Love by Sarah Bower.
The Book of Love was not so much an accidental choice as an unintentional one. Having left my previously-compiled reading list at home, I found myself in the library, looking around in bewilderment, trying to remember just one author or book title from my list. I couldn't. I instinctively began to browse through the paranormal/urban/fantasy romances before I stopped to firmly remind myself of my vow to branch out a little. And so I began to scour the shelves, picking books at random, only returning them when I found the blurbs to be beyond bland.
When I picked up Bower's novel and read the blurb, I was wary but open-minded. Despite its name, The Book of Love is not just a romance (and I doubt it could be really counted as one, either), but also a book drenched in history and politics. While political novels are a favourite of mine, I am not, I admit, much of a history buff. That's not to say that I don't enjoy history novels. I'm just not all that good at memorising important dates and names that might be vital to the storyline.
But the brief description intrigued me. The Book of Love is the story of a Jewish girl, Esther Safarti, who, in 1492, travels from Spain to Rome with her father. By her father's instruction, Esther converts to Christianity in order to join the prosperous house of the Pope's daughter, Lucrezia, as a lady-in-waiting. There she is befriended by Lucrezia's cousin, Angela, seduced by the Lucrezia's brother, Cesare, and drawn into a web of mystery and deceit that she finds harder and harder to escape.
Die-hard romantics who pick up this book intending to find a love story for the ages will probably be disappointed. The romantic relationship (and I use the terms romantic and relationship very loosely here) depicted in the novel is not the epic, beautiful, fairytale kind. It is dark and cold, based on a shaky foundation of wishful thinking and unfulfilled promises. While this relationship is the catalyst for many of the story's events, it doesn't, to my delight, overshadow the true message of novel. Yes, this is The Book of Love, and it focuses quite beautifully on all aspects of it. Paternal love, sibling love, friendship love. Eternal love, destructive love, forbidden love. All these are interwoven to make Bower's book an insightful read that will appeal to both the romantics and the non-romantics out there.
I liked this novel for several reasons. Despite the complicated politics and the sometimes-confusing historical background (again I emphasis how much of a history buff I am not), I was never overwhelmed with too much information that I was unable to read the book. Her characters were distinctive enough that I was able to tell them apart from each other despite similar names and tangled family trees. Until now I was very unfamiliar with the history of the Borgia and Este families, the politics of the Popery of the fifteenth and sixteenth century, and the social customs of Italy and Spain at that time, and while the book never delves too far into its roots, I was suitably educated enough to enjoy the story.
Bower's prose was eloquent and well-handled. It was never too purple and her turn-of-phrase made me envious on occasion. Her descriptions were rich and honest, providing details not necessarily important to the plot, but important to the tone of the book and its characters. The only problem I had with the overall style was its slow pace. That's no fault of the author, however. It's the action junkie in me that cried out for a little more adventure. As it is, the action, while referenced, takes place behind the scenes. Such elements wouldn't have fit the tone of the book, anyway, which stands as Esther's own personal testament. Her story is told through her own words, the events viewed through her own eyes, and Esther's world provides little opportunity for adventure. It is more of a dramatic novel than an action-packed one.
Another thing I liked about this book was the well-rounded and clearly flawed characters that are introduced throughout. Esther isn't perfect. She is sometimes far too optimistic to the point of delusion, a little too naive, and often temperamental and rash. Sometimes I fonud her to be far too passive to respect but this was always changing. What I appreciated was not being forced to pity her. I never like being forced to feel for my characters. They must do that themselves, without the author's help. Lucrezia was also a character I was fond of. Honest but not necessarily trustworthy. While I was reading I expected her character to become something it never did, which was refreshing. Cesare I did not necessarily "like", but I was thankful that, while Esther was willing to forgive and sometimes forget his mistakes, I was never expected to do the same. I was free to judge the character as I saw fit.
There was also a subtle mystery running throughout the book that kept me intrigued. I won't go into too much detail because I feel that this intrigue adds to enjoyment of the book. Even though I had it figured out around the middle of the book, it still worked. I don't think Bower intended the "twist" to be a shocking revelation. It simply answered questions that arose throughout the novel. But even after solving the mystery, I still found the ending bittersweet.
Lastly, I wanted to praise Bower on her sex scenes. There are only a handful throughout the novel, most of them quite vague, but I felt she handled them with the right amount of wistfulness and honesty, never sugarcoating the act itself but still maintaining that satisfying charm of a love scene.
Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. While it's not one I would read again and again, it is one that I know I could come back to in a year's time and find something new within its prose. I'm really glad that I chose to take this novel home and I'll definitely be reading Bower's other novel, Needle in the Blood.