The Columbus Free Press

A Few Recent Novels

Book reviews by Bob Powers, Jun 9, 1997

Arcadia

British novelist Jim Crace has attracted a fervent following in the U.S. with a series of tales that combine critical commentary about society, seen in a dark but humorous assessment.

Crace's novel, Arcadia (Ecco Press, $13) tells the bizarre story of Victor, who makes the journey from abject poverty to tremendous wealth. Nearing the end of his colorful life, Victor decides to tear down the neighborhood in which he grew up, replacing it with an enclosed shopping center that he intends as a lavish monument to himself.

With writing rich in language and pepper with sly but cutting commentary about all that he surveys, Crace creates a book both fascinating and difficult. The story seems to take an inordinate amount of time to get rolling. At times the narrative loses its way, as the author appears determined to make his political points at the expense of a coherent storyline.

Despite these deficiencies, Arcadia offers much to enjoy, particularly in its beautiful command of the written word.

Death in Equality

Lucinda Ebersole's first novel shows off a potentially wonderful writer, although it contains as much to dislike as to praise.

Death in Equality (St. Martin's Press, $19.95) describes the last months in the life of Cordelia, a young woman who calls herself "the greatest unpublished novelist of her generation." When the book stays with its first-person narrative, it's intriguing and refreshing, a spunky, fearless look into how one individual faces her greatest challenge.

But Ebersole, who has published many short stories, breaks up the slender book with stories that don't always integrate well with the tale of Cordelia's dying. As a result, "Death in Equality" reads as a patchwork job, a convenient way to work off some short stories while calling the collection a novel. Nice try, but it simply doesn't work.

Sister

A. Manette Ansay's personal story would make a good book. She's a gifted young writer, now 32, who at 17 began to have pain in her arms and legs. The condition turned out to be an inflammatory illness that put Ansay into a wheelchair. The ornithology student began to look for a profession she could do sitting down. Thus she became a writer.

Her novel, Sister, (Avon, $12) poignantly tells the story of a young woman's search for the brother who left home because of abuse at the hands of his father. Abigail Schiller tells her sad but compelling story of the search for her brother and for the meaning of life in a book that demonstrates Ansay's superb sense of narrative and emotion.

Calmly, Ansay tells a story that builds in intensity, winding its way toward a shattering and memorable climax. This is assured writing, detailed, completely believable and a memorable commentary about the complications of family.

Bob Powers is a former managing editor of The Free Press.

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