24 of 30 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Emotional, mysterious and compelling must-read, March 28, 2010
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?)
This is another moving yet mysterious tale from Brunonia Barry, who returns to Salem and some familiar characters in this wonderful novel. I loved Zee, a therapist whose life was shaped by her own mother's suicide. When she returns to her childhood home to care for her father, a rapidly deteriorating Parkinson's patient, she is forced to assess her life and her understanding of herself and others. The underlying mysteries are not difficult to unravel, but it is in finding some level of truth that Zee also finds herself. Though this story was not as dark as
The Lace Reader: A Novel, it was no less emotionally compelling. Definitely a must read!
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38 of 49 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
It's time for Brunonia and I to part ways, June 1, 2010
"It's not down on any map; true places never are."
-- Herman Melville
Apparently, I was the only person in America not raving about The Lace Reader last year. I didn't hate it, but I had a really hard time relating to the female protagonist, Towner Whitney. Having been curious enough to have read Ms. Barry's second novel, The Map of True Places, again I find myself in the disenchanted minority--and with the exact same complaint!
Brunonia Barry's new stand alone novel is set in the same world--the same Salem--as her first. Characters from The Lace Reader are referenced or make brief appearances. However, this novel is more grounded in the real world of psychology and medicine than with the ethereal subjects she had explored previously. The central character is Hepzibah Finch, known as "Zee." (And what is it with these names, Brunonia?).
Zee is a psychologist in crisis. She's just lost her first patient, and is having a hard time accepting that Lilly Braedon committed suicide. Zee's own mother had killed herself when Zee was a teen, and feelings about the two women have become entangled in a very non-clinical way. Meanwhile, other areas of Zee's life are falling apart. Her father's Parkinson's disease is far more advanced than she had been led to believe. She suddenly needs to step in as a care-giver, putting additional strain on an already strained relationship.
My frustration with this central character exists on several levels, but here is one issue I can illustrate easily enough. Allow me to share some quotes from the novel. All of these are spoken by, or refer to, Zee:
"I don't know what I want."
"The truth was, she didn't know if she didn't want to get married at all, or if she just hated the process."
"She was angry at Michael, though she had no real reason for this except that he so clearly knew what he wanted in all areas of his life, while she couldn't seem to make as simple a choice as whether or not to serve sushi at the wedding."
"Zee had once known exactly what kind of life she wanted. Now she drew a complete blank."
"I don't know what I feel."
"He had never asked her what she wanted out of life... These days she had to admit she had no idea."
"Though she was still having doubts about her choice of career, Zee knew she had to get back to work."
"I don't know what I want either."
"I don't think what I was or was not ready for was clear in any way, least of all to me."
"More than a few of the tears were relief; because... she had no big decisions to make."
"She honestly couldn't remember the last time she'd ordered ice cream for herself. It was ridiculous to be flustered by such a small thing, but there it was. He was waiting for her choice and she didn't have one."
I'm a highly empathetic reader, but I found Zee to be so bland, wishy-washy, and indecisive that I just wanted to slap her. I find it hard to become engaged in a character that passive. I pulled a whole other list of quotes that show the character to be tongue-tied and inarticulate, but given the length of this review, I'll spare you. My point was that as a reader, all I have are the character's words and thoughts to go by, and either Zee or Brunonia just wouldn't spit them out.
I can see that Ms. Barry's work resonates with the majority of her readers. That I am not among their number is unfortunate for me. But henceforth I will try to ignore my curiosity and Brunonia and I will go our separate ways, and we will both be happier for it.
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15 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
It is not down in any map..., May 5, 2010
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?)
The Map of True Places is a compelling novel that subtly captures and holds the reader until you suddenly realize you are immersed in the story and characters. The book is superbly written, with well-developed characters, smooth transitions between people and places, and pacing that transparently changes aligned with the situation.
Zee, the main character of the book, is an accomplished psychiatrist with a growing new practice, has a beloved mentor and a handsome successful fiancé. Zee is also an insecure, vulnerable, and lonely young woman, haunted by the suicide of her manic depressive mother when Zee was a child. When a patient of Zee's, a bi-polar young mother commits suicide, Zee runs away back home. There, she discovers that her father is estranged from his long-time partner and his Parkinson's disease is much worse than she knew.
Deciding to stay and care for her father, Zee takes a leave of absence from work and her life. More secure in her childhood environment, Zee begins to explore her feelings of guilt, impatience, estrangement, and loss. Her interactions with the people in her hometown are wonderfully done, providing the reader with insights about Zee as well as the richness these characters add to the story.
Zee begins to feel that something wasn't quite right about the suicide of her patient, which parallels a deeper feeling about something not quite right about her mother's death. In the midst of all this, Zee breaks up with her fiancé, falls in love with a very different man, re-establishes a relationship with her father's partner, and manages to improve her father's health to a point where he can live at home with caretakers. Eventually, Zee comes to a better understanding about the forces driving her patient and the choices her patient made, which leads to a surprisingly violent dénouement. Only the reader, not Zee, discovers the secret aspects of the suicide of Zee's mother, done in a hauntingly delicate way.
The Map of True Places is an enchanting novel in many ways, and will hopefully achieve a well-deserved place on the best sellers list.
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