Customer Reviews

ALEXANDRA.

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Couldn't put it down -- Calling Valeria Martin "the female Faulkner" doesn't do her justice... a tour de force to be able to write a sexually charged novel from the male perspective... Gave me much insight into my own dark feelings of sexuality. No coincidence that her most famous work, "Mary Reilly", is based on "The Strange Tale of Dr. Jeckyll and Mr. Hyde," by Robert Louis Stevenson. He wrote, "All men have thoughts which would shame Hell." Martin explores this familiar-but-taboo terrain, uniting us all in the humanity of our deepest desires. This book grows on you, and you will be haunted by it if you're at all fascinated by the mystical nature of sexuality!

I was very excited to read this book, after reading the reviews of the author. The book started out strong, with great writing which made it all the more disapointing midbook when the whole thing gradually fell apart, losing momentum, believability, and interest along the way.

It was almost as if the book was written by two different people, and the one that took over in the second half needs to go back to writing school. The characters are not at all developed, their motivations are very unclear and never explained. Plot devices are introduced, for example the double of the author, and then the device is not explored or explained. In several places the narrator foreshadows an event that when it actually happens sinks like a lead ballon.

As an example, the narrator has an attack of fever, (was he set up? was he poisoned?) during which the other characters seem to be menancing him, or something, which is never explained and is not followed through on after he recovers. Actually at this point, the whole book seemed to fall apart. Why does one character want him to deliver her baby? How is he an offering? Why does Alex decide to leave? Why does he decide to stay? Why was Alex even interested in him anyway? Oh, and this was the most non-erotic erotic novel I have ever read.

I can't recommend this book, even though the first 50 pages or so are well written.

Claude is forty-nine, right smack in the center of middle age. He despises his current lover for her flamboyant personality and patent desperation, but mostly for her age, even though she is around his age. One night, he meets Alexandra--a thirty-year-old barmaid. She fascinates him, intrigues him so that he cannot help starting a lustful affair with her. Uncharacteristic things begin to happen to him afterwards; he quits his job, dumps his middle-aged girlfriend, and shows off his younger girl to his former workmate. But the most uncharacteristic thing of all is that he agrees to travel with Alexandra to meet her friend. They soon embark on a strange and erotic relationship that soon becomes deadly.

This is one dark novel! Claude is unlikable. His personality, while well fleshed out and real, is repugnant from the beginning and you don't feel much sympathy for him. When he begins to feel that he is being played for a fool... well, I felt that he deserved it. Alexandra, on the other hand, is interesting, intriguing and enigmatic throughout the story -- her devil-may-care personality makes her quite unique as well. Valerie Martin is a great writer. Her voice is dark yet poignant, strange but beautiful--shocking and chilling. Daphne du Maurier sprang to mind as I read this book. Martin's male narrative style reminds me a great deal of Du Maurier. All in all, I cannot recommend this unique novel enough. Though slow at first, it takes you to a ride that is sexy as well as suspenseful. Beware of some loose ends and confusing plot devices though.

From the Bascove illustration on its cover to its haunting last line, Valerie Martin's "Alexandra" will hold you in thrall like a witch's spell. Martin's plots are so devious she simply cannot be outguessed. All you can do is hang on for dear life as her story careers exhilaratingly through its endless thrilling surprises and shocking revelations. After reading this novel I was unable to read another book for nearly a week. Everytime I tried "Alexandra" kept intruding between me and the new story. I couldn't get it out of my head, and neither will you be able to. Valerie Martin's imagination ought to be registered with the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms as both a dangerous implement and an addictive substance. Do yourself a favor and get hooked.