The Book of Life by Deborah Harkness

It's been awhile since I have enjoyed a trilogy or even a series as much as I've enjoyed the All Souls Trilogy by Deborah Harkness.  And finally, we have come to the end of the road.  The Book of Life is the final thrilling novel in the adventures of Matthew Clairmont and Diana Bishop; one   a 1500 year old vampire and the other a contemporary witch who denies her powers.   They  meet over the mysterious Ashmole 782 at Oxford and fireworks happen.  

Before I begin my review, I'm going to tell you one thing:  if you haven't read any of these books, I'm not going to give away anything.  You really do need to read the books!  

In this final novel, it continues right where Shadow of Night ends.  Diana and Matthew are back at Sept-Tours, along with a cast of characters that have become deeply involved in the lives of Diana and Matthew.  You'll find yourself smiling as you meet them all again.  Deborah Harkness brings characters to life in such a way that they seem very human--even the daemons and vampires!  There are no one-dimensional people in this world; all are fully three-dimensional characters that are hard to forget.  

The one thing that kept returning to my mind as I read this book was the treatment of marriage.  It's been a very long time since I've read a novel where the romance part of marriage wasn't at the forefront, and often the story stopped once the marriage happened.  But with Matthew and Diana, I am amazed at how their relationship plays out over the trilogy.  Yes, Matthew is a vampire, and Diana is a mortal witch.  Their relationship is based on true, deep, lasting love.  It is full of respect, protectiveness, and the knowledge that there is simply no one else for either of them.  They learn secrets about each other, yet accept both the good and the bad.  It's a relationship to be admired and aspired to for anyone looking for love. 

With that said, wow what an excellent book!  I will admit it took me about 50 pages to get in the swing of things remembering characters, but after that it just continued to build in excitement and action until the thrilling conclusion.  And Diana is kick-ass.  She becomes the most amazing, vibrant woman--truly a lioness, which Matthew uses as a term of endearment.  The arc of her development from a restless and unhappy professor to a woman of power is very well done and another favorite part of this trilogy.  Bravo, Deborah Harkness!  

So--I don't tell you much.  I'll leave that for you to discover as you hunker down this July and read the further adventures of Matthew and Diana.  You will not be disappointed.  All is neatly tied together, questions are answered, and you are left feeling a bit bereft after finishing the last sentence.  Yes, I've actually sighed a number of times after I've finished and put the book down!  

Rating:  9/10 for a brilliant conclusion, well-developed characters, and story arcs that answer all questions.  

Available today!  Tuesday, July 15th in the United States in Hardcover, E-book, and audio.  

And the winner of a hardcover copy of The Book of Life is…….

Kate!  Please email me your address!

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  Kate Falzareno

  mamakate@hotmail.com

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The Book of Life by Deborah Harkness

An Inquiry into Love and Death by Simone St. James

Oh, I so enjoy Simone St. James.  This is her second novel; her first release came out last year and was equally as enjoyable as her second.  

An Inquiry into Love and Death takes place in the early 1920's in England.  The heroine of this novel is Jillian Leigh, a young woman who's attending Oxford and is pretty darn smart.  She's one the new wave of women who are entering schools of higher learning, drives a car, and lives away from her parents.  Her father is a famous chemist, and her mother travels the world with him as he lectures.  

Jillian receives notice at Oxford that her Uncle Toby has died in a fall off a cliff and she is the only relative that can go identify his body and collect his things.  He had been staying in a small house on the coast of England in the small village of Rothewell.  Her parents can't possibly leave Paris for this, so she reluctantly goes to Rothewell to take care of business.

Toby was a ghost hunter, and he was in Rothewell to tackle the famous local ghost, Walking John.  He had been a smuggler 200 years before, and walked the local woods and kept people away from Blood Moon Bay.  Toby had been found at the bottom of the cliffs that run along the coast.  It appears he fell.  Appears, I said.  

Jillian quickly realizes that not only does Walking John exist--and creeps around the little cottage at night--but that something else is in the cottage, leaving clues for her.  Enter dashing Scotland Yard investigator Drew Merriken--an World War I pilot with secrets of his own.  He's there to investigate Toby's death.  But there's way more to this story, and Jillian is slowly realizing not only are the dead haunting her, but someone else wants her dead, too.  Can she figure it all out before it's too late?

I so enjoyed this book.  I'm always happy when I come upon a good ghost story.  This author does an excellent job of creeping you out--the tension, the chills, the feeling of something is there--right behind you keeps you turning the pages.  You want to shout at Jillian--Turn around! Also, Simone St. James brings the after effects of World War I into the story, reminding us that those who survived and came home often did so with emotional wounds that could not be healed.  

Her first book, The Haunting of Maddy Clare is just as good, with the right amount of creepy.  Her heroines are young women struggling to make it on their own in a rapidly changing world that still thinks women should be married and having children.  You can read either book in any order as the characters are not connected and the stories are stand alone.  

Rating:  7/10; clever storyline that unfolds slowly; tension builds very well, and a great ghost story!  

Available in paperback or as an e-book.

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An Inquiry into Love and Death by Simone St. James