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Critic's Corner
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Reviewed by: Patricia Ann Jones "I realize, suddenly, that everyone is a liar. Memories are like a still life painted by ten different student artists: some will be blue-based; others red; some will be as stark as Picasso and others as rich as Rembrandt; some will be foreshortened and others distant. Recollections are in the eyes of the beholder; no two held up side by side will ever quite match." Picoult, author of 11 previous novels including her eloquent, "My
Sister's Keeper," is widely acclaimed for her ability to tap into the
hearts and minds of real people. In "Vanishing Acts," she explores what
happens when a young woman's past—a past she didn't even know she
had—catches up to her just in time to threaten her future. Delia's fiancé and childhood friend, Eric Talcott, the father of her daughter, is one of three attorneys in Wexton, New Hampshire. He and Delia have not married because of Eric's inability to stop drinking. Now it seems Eric has conquered his destructive behavior and the two young people are excited to be planning their wedding. Then, the unthinkable happens. Policemen appear at the Hopkins's door and arrest Delia's father. The crime? Kidnapping Delia 28 years ago, when she was only four years old, and fleeing with her from Arizona to New Hampshire to escape her mother, an alcoholic. Shock and confusion envelop Delia as she uproots her family and moves to Arizona, where her father is in prison waiting for trial. It is there that she begins sifting through the truth about her parents and her years as a young child. She finally meets her mother, having believed her to be dead all these years, and finds an attractive Mexican woman who has remained sober for a long time. Picoult goes from first person to second person scene to scene. This unconventional switch is always a jolt, and why few authors risk it. As it turns out the second person passages work well in the context of this complicated story. So much goes on in this novel, so many voices, flashbacks, present times, and what might be, that it all mixes into a cacophony of sound, sight, and at times deep confusion. All of this proves to be the author's intent. I found the part of the story that takes place in Arizona fascinating. Here Picoult offers richly drawn Hopi lore presented by Delia's new friend Ruthann, the Hopi woman who befriends Delia and her daughter, Sophie. Many short folk tales color the pages, each one adding to the texture of the plot. Life songs, lessons, and intrigue play with your senses in these passages. Somehow as I read of the Hopi ceremonies and the Katsinas arrival weaving a single file line up from their Kivas, I knew Picoult's research was impeccable. The sensory details are illuminating, carrying double meanings for readers. Readers will also learn all and more than they want to know about life in an Arizona County jail. Throughout this part of the story, I kept reminding myself . . . it's fiction, just fiction . . . isn't it? You've heard of sugar plums dancing in your head? Well, try Aryan Brotherhood, the Mau Mau, Bloods, Crips, and Mexican Mafia. These put a new perspective to any ideas you may have held as to being incarcerated. Each deftly defined character, event, and circumstance in Picoult's story leads to a resolution that is credible and points to the craft of the author. Pulling off a story like this one is no easy task, yet it is done with supreme expertise. "Vanishing Acts" is a novel about the very nature and power of memory. It explores what happens when the past we have been running from catches up to us, and questions who we trust to tell us the story of our lives before we are capable of remembering it ourselves. Copyright May 21, 2005 Patricia Ann Jones Save Up to 30% on this book at Amazon.com Jones is a published writer and book reviewer for Tulsa World newspaper. To comment on this review you may email pattij777@aol.com |
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