Customer Reviews

House of Illusions: A Novel

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I LOVE Pauline Gedge's books about Egypt (as well as her other books). "Illusions" opens with the main character, Thu, a woman who has been banished to live alone in the desert, serving the priests in a temple there, because of an accusation that she attempted to kill Pharaoh when she lived at court. Thu wishes desperately to send a message to Pharaoh explaining what really happened, but she is never given the opportunity, until one day a young court officer arrives, and agrees to help her. Discovering that this is his mother, he helps her plot revenge on the group of people who set her up for the crime which caused her exile. In the process of intrigue, Thu does not always act wisely, and her character is not always admirable. Thus, though she is the heroine of the story, Thu is not necessarily lovable, but she is definitely fascinating. The plot is complex, involving all the characters that surround Pharaoh. The scenery, the buildings, the poorer sections of the city, the clothing, the feasts...everything... is so vividly described, that I am caught up in these images. This feeling of being transported there is reason enough to read Gedge's books, but combined with the drama and suspense, they are unforgettable.

House of Illusions picks up the story of Thu of Aswat sixteen years after her diary ends in Lady of the Reeds. For the past interval, Thu has been serving internal banishment in her native village of Aswat for her part in the harem plot to murder Ramses III. The terms of her exile are thus: She must remain in Aswat and exist in simplicity. She must provide sustenance for herself. Her feet must be unshod. She cannot marry or have a consort, as technically she remains a concubine of Ramses III. She must perform menial manual labor in the local temple of Wepwawet. Thus it has been until one day... a royal messenger barge docks in the temple canal at Aswat. Per form, Thu begs the occupants to deliver a box to Pharaoh on their return to Pi-Ramesses. This box contains her diary, the story of her life. Thu hopes that upon reading her diary, Ramses will realize how badly and by whom she was manipulated, and true justice will finally prevail. She also dearly hopes Ramses will remember the great love they once shared, and perhaps a softening of his hard heart by these joyous and sensual memories will induce him to pardon her or commute sentence. A young soldier, Kamen, agrees to deliver the box. Unbeknownst to either at this time, Thu and Kamen are mother and son. House of Illusions continues the story of Thu of Aswat in a trilogy of different perspectives. The first is that of the young soldier Kamen, whose life changes forever the moment he accepts the box from Thu. The second perspective is that of Kaha, a minor scribe at the estate of Hui when Thu lived there, but now the chief scribe for the wealthy merchant Men, who is Kamen's adoptive father. The last and most endearing perspective comes from Thu herself. I will not reveal the ending to this story, but merely say that justice prevails in a manner that is incredible, and yet so sweetly poetic.

The return of some of the most intriquing characters in Ancient Egypt! The first book was wonderful, with characters that exposed dark and human sides and a main character that draws readers in to her incredible story. In the sequel, Gedge has beautifully developed her characters in the seventeen years since the first segment of the story of the concubine Thu. While a few outcomes were expected, overall it was a suspenceful and romantic read that showed how close all humans are, regardless of the era in which they live. I think I have found my new favorite author!

I got this book a week or so ago and while it is excellent I didn't find it as good as Lady Of The Reeds(published as House Of Dreams in Canada). The plot didn't seem as strong, and to me it was a little bit disconcerting having three parts (the first told by Kamen, the second by a scribe, and the third by Thu) inside the book.

It's still a good book, and I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. Gedge once again has painted a vivid image of Ancient Egypt and continued with the story of Thu. The plot was still griping, even if it didn't shine quite as brightly as Lady Of The Reeds, and the characters were well-written as usual. This book is worth buying, and the ending has an interesting twist.

Pauline Gedge, as usual, is probably the best writer of "Egyptian Fiction". Her characters and scenes are equisitely detailed, whether she writes in the third or first person. House of Illusions continues the story of Thu, and her son, who were separated under edict of Rameses III. The ending and events, although near the end were rather fantastical and almost predictable. If you have not read Lady of the Reeds, then you probably would not enjoy this book as much, but as sequels go, it is quite well done.

If you ask me, this book should barely have been written. I read Lady of the Reeds and thought it was (pretty) good, but flawed. I only read the sequel because I happened to run into it at the library.
*****SPOILERS*:
There are barely any surprises in this book. The young soldier is, obviously, of course, Thu's long-lost son (never mind that we never even get to have a nice, proper reunion between the two of them). Then, of course, Thu manages to get out of exile. Of course, she is successful in getting revenge (although why Ramses was so "in love" with her, I haven't found out, and when she loved him, I haven't a clue). Oh, and the final "suspenseful surprise?" Please. I knew what was going to happen about 100 pages before it did.

I think the entire novel is a bit dragged out. Gedge seems to have written it just to write a sequel. I really think she could have condensed it and included it in a "Part 2" part of the first book.

The fact that the book is basically carried along only by constant allusions to the former book is one such example. There are few new characters, none of which end up being important. The entire book is spent concluding the plot that should have been tied up at the end of the first book. I thought the novel was very drawn out, and the fates of the plotters didn't feel particularly vindicating. Also, I was resignedly disgusted with Hui's fate.

It's a risky thing to write a book about a character who can be disliked; in my opinion, Thu didn't necessarily redeem herself in the reader's eyes. She has no brilliant qualities to redeem her flaws. She's still a double murderess.

So, I think Gedge just created this book for the sake of it.

When I read 'Lady of the reeds' and found out there was a second book following Thu's life, I never expected it to be this good, I got the book three days ago and I have to admit, it was very hard for me to put it down, I have to say Pauline Gedge did an amazing job, in her book you can feel the pain, passion and regrets involving Thu's life. I just have to say, you have to read this book, believe me, you won't regret it.

Pauline Gedge is a wonderful writer. I would not have finished this book past the first few chapters had I not read Lady of the Reeds. That book was so good that I absolutly needed to know what would happen to Thu, so I stuck with it. It got a bit better, but I will not even compare it to the first. It seemed very forced, like Gedge was pressured to provide a sequal so she racked her brain and wote it in a week. I would recommend reading it if you were as captivated with Lady of the Reeds as I was, but if not, don't waste your time. Also, I didn't appriciate the changing speakers. Once I finally got used to her son speaking, the scribe does, which is painfully boring and irrelevent. I was relieved when she finally began to narrarate. I only cared about her story, and not the subplot involving her son which we were forced to endure. She even neglects to finish the story of her son and leaves us hanging on the conclusion to her own story. While I admit it left me thinking about it for hours, I would have preferred a solid ending instead of one that left me on edge. It was as though she was preparing for yet another bad sequal. How did everyone feel about Hui? Come to terms with that before you read this.

THIS IS AN EXCELLENT BOOK FOR EGYTOPHILES. IT IS SET IN ANCIENT EGYPT AND HAS SO MANY DETAILS THAT YOU WONDER IF MS. GEDGE LIVED THERE. PAULINE GEDGE IS AN ABSOLUTE GENIUS WHEN IT COME TO BOOKS ABOUT ANCIENT EGYPT AND SHE IS NO SLOUCH IN THE SCIENCE FICTION DEPARTMENT EITHER---SO GOOD I READ IT 7 TIMES THUS FAR!

I really don't know what to make of the author, Pauline Gedge. Last week, for the first time I read a book written by her. It was, Lady of the Reeds, also published as House of Dreams. I was really pleased with the book and considered it the best book that I had read this year. I was swept along into ancient Egypt with the character Thu. Even though the character was morally corrupt, I found the plot and the twist at the end fascinating and not predictable. When I saw that a sequel had been written, House of Illusions ,I ordered it at once, hoping for another wonderful story. I have now read the sequel and am very disappointed. I am sorry that I read it as it spoils my memory of the first book.

This book, The House of Illusions, starting about 17 years after the end of the first book, has been written with three different POVs,first Kamen's,then Kaha's and all to soon Thu's. I thought that the book started off well enough but went downhill quickly when we get to Thu's POV, which is the greater part of the novel.

Instead of the interesting story, I was hoping to find, it seemed to me that I was reading one of those horrid Harlequin Romance Novels. In the first book, there was some plausibility in the story, in this sequel there was absolutly none. Anytime you read a novel you have to suspend belief to a certain extent, but this was ridiculous. Although the description of Ancient Egypt is good, the story was a drag, the older Thu was a bore and I had to force myself to finish it.

The two books, the original and its sequel almost seemed like they were written by two different authors. I am leery now of reading another of her books. Maybe The Lady of the Reeds was her only good novel or possibly her publishers rushed her into writing this sequel and she was tired of the subject. Who is the real Pauline Gedge? A good author or a Harlequin Romance novelist?