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Reviews for Inside the Hatboxes © |
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Click Below Reviews
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Dan Hays / Statesman Journal said: This is a real surprise of a book. The premise is, one would think, unlikely, but it becomes very likely --- downright compelling, in fact --- in short order. If one were using the parlance of book reviewers, one could call this a "fast read," in that it is so interesting you won't want to stop reading. But, in fact, it is so well put together that you won't want to read it fast...you'll want to savor it. Nice
cover, by the way! Greg Lawrence, author of Dancing on my Grave and
Dance with Demons: Life of Jerome Robbins K.P. Burke, author of Proof Through the Night: A B-29 Pilor Captive in Japan RC Marlen's premise is fresh and her plot twists and turns
are masterful. |
William R. Long (blong@willamette.edu), a professor of law and a writer,
April 14, 2006. In her inaugural novel, Oregon writer RC Marlen has given us a wise, engaging and moving book. It is the story of how two families' lives and destinies become interwoven in a St. Louis neighborhood not far from where Marlen herself spent many of her years. The novel is wise because it makes the reader learn the lesson through reading that Marlen wants to teach about life: that you should never draw conclusions until all the facts are 'in.' Time after time I as a reader thought I 'knew' where the story was going, only to be pleasantly surprised, delighted and deeply touched by where the story actually went. The novel is engaging because Marlen is a master story-teller, weaving emotions and facts, small details and large themes, in a tightly-organized and quickly-flowing narrative. It is moving because the lives of the characters become interconnected in ways that we know connect our lives--through common loves and work, through tears and grief, through unexpected joys and numbing loss. What she does incomparably well, however, is tell a story. It opens with a young family traveling from LA to St. Louis so that the father, Tony, can take a job as a fire-fighter in his native St. Louis. His wife cradles their lifeless daughter, and they drive in silence. We have to listen to discover how their beloved child died, and we are captivated by the tale and saddened by the loss. Then, after arriving in St. Louis, they lodge at a motel, and Tony, unable to sleep, ventures out for a drive. Inexplicably for him (but explicably from the narrative that follows), he encounters a child 16-months old in the middle of the night who wants to accompany him. He allows her to clamber in his car, and he returns to the motel with the child. When his wife awakes, there is a beautiful little girl next to her. Thus begins a journey of discovery, joy, secrets and, ultimately, incomparable grief and suffering. Two families are joined in that act, the Scaglione's (Tony and Claire) and the Bartlett's (whose little girl is lost). If there is a message in all of this, and indeed there is, it is that our secrets consume us and ultimately lead to our downfall. I was led to consider the secrets I have kept from others, the secrets that have led to my own undoing in the past, and to resolve and make sure that those secrets are revealed to the right person, at the right time, in the not-too-distant future. Her narrative sparkles with the fast-paced narrative, and the characters really are portrayed in vivid and sympathetic ways. And, there is always the surprise or potential for surprise, luring us from one page to the next. This is a wonderful book that is well-worth the read. |
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