As an avid reader of historical fiction, I love it when
authors surprise me with little known facts about historical time periods
rather than traversing down old, familiar historical paths. Iris Anthony blew my socks off with the
historical setting for her new novel, The Ruins of Lace. In 1636, King Louis XIII outlawed lace and
imposed heavy punishments for anyone found possessing it. Who knew?
This novel concerns itself with characters whose lives are touched by
this lace trade and offers an intriguing history lesson as well.
The Ruins of Lace is told from the point of view of several
different characters who narrate alternating chapters. Katharina is a lace maker from Flanders who
has spent nearly her entire life making lace by hand. As she ages, she loses her sight and faces
the danger of being turned out of her home in the abbey. Those women who are turned out are absorbed
into the population of fallen women of the city. Heilwich, Katharina’s sister, is determined
not to let that happen. These two
characters comprise one of the narrative arcs of the story. This narrative, quite honestly, was the one
that I found the most compelling. The
acts of sisterly love and devotion that Hielwich performed to try and rescue
her sister were touching. Unfortunately,
their story seemed to be overshadowed by the other major story plot. The sisters story seemed unfinished and
without a resolution, as well.
The other plot
involves a young man and the woman that he loves. The girl, Lisette, is forced to serve a count
that is quite evil because she ruined lace as a child. The young man, Alexandre, tries to rescue her
from this service, but he has issues of his own. His father was a leper, and he must try to
rise above the stigma that his father suffered.
The count’s son, a gender confused schemer, tries to get as much as he
can from his father. He also tries to
keep his inheritance, though his father seeks to have another child declared
his heir. Sound confusing? It eventually all came together, but the
alternating chapters were an impediment.
It would have been much more cohesive had the entire story been told
from one point of view.
Though I found the
story compelling, I felt as though the story lost steam about three-quarters of
the way through. I found the first half
to be quite interesting, but as the characters began to meet each other, I felt
as though the way the chapters were written was just a nuisance to wade
through. In addition, I found the ending
of the book to be ambiguous and a bit of a disappointment.
I cannot end my
review without mentioning the chapters told from the point of view of the
dog. Dogs were used to help in the
smuggling of lace, and a quick Google search will explain exactly what the dogs
were forced to do. The historian in me
was fascinated, but the animal lover in me was completely disgusted. I think the dog was the most complete
character in the novel. But, these
chapters were very distressing to read.
The Ruins of Lace had some serious potential. I cannot say that I did not enjoy the book,
but the confusing points of view and the rushed ending took some of the
pleasure out of reading. Having said
that, the history lesson, as well as some of the characterization, was well
done, and I would take a chance on another Iris Anthony novel.
*I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Regina
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The old grey donkey, Eeyore stood by himself in a thistly corner of the Forest, his front feet well apart, his head on one side, and thought about things. Sometimes he thought sadly to himself, "Why?" and sometimes he thought, "Wherefore?" and sometimes he thought, "Inasmuch as which?" and sometimes he didn't quite know what he was thinking about.
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