Customer Reviews

Dreams of Innocence

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

 

 

Journalist Helena Latimer has led a hard life, growing up as an orphan among foster families that use and abuse her. But, now that she has met Max Bergmann, ecologist and possibly eco-terrorist, her life seems complete. But, when Max goes missing, Helena sets out to find out what has happened to him. The trail leads to Germany, where Helena finds the journal of Anna von Leinsdorf, a young Viennese woman who lived and loved in the Germany of the inter-war years. This book is a vital link in understanding what has happened to Max, but there are a lot of pieces that Helena must put together first!

Hmmm. This is a somewhat hard book to review. Part way through the book, the storyline drops completely from the 1990s to the 1910s when you get to the journal, and at that point the story is quite excellent, with a lot of interesting characters and occurrences. However, when you return to the 1990s, the story returns to being slow moving and rather heavy. Plus, politics hangs over the modern side of the story like a smothering blanket - everyone is either an eco-terrorist, a fighter for native rights, or what have you. It gives the story a very odd feeling.

The cover proclaims the book to be "lushly erotic," but do not take that too seriously. There are a number of sexual encounters between characters in the book, but they are handled in a very clipped and hurried manner, taking away any feeling of eros or even of romance.

So, I guess I must say that while this book does have its moments, there are simply not enough of them. I give it three stars for its interesting plot twists and wonderful inter-war storyline, but I do not really recommend it.