Customer Reviews

Mapping the Edge

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(22)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

Anna Franklin's "strategy for revitalization" involves an impulsive trip to Florence, Italy where she expects to rendezvous with her recently acquired part-time lover. Anna goes missing, and back home in London, those closest to her -- Paul, loyal friend and surrogate father to Anna's daughter Lily, aged six, and Estella, her long-time best friend -- are becoming increasingly anxious, worried -- and puzzled. "Mapping the Edge" is both a suspense story and a study of relationships. As a suspense story, the author borrows a premise used so effectively in some of Hitchcock's films: The innocent caught in the web of the villain's machinations; the dupe ensnared by the duper. On another level, the book explores relationships: between women and men, women and women, men and men, adults and children, the victim and the victimizer. Author Dunant accomplishes all this by filling the reader's plate with a clever device: two scenarios of what might have happened to Anna. In this author's hands, it is done skillfully and entertainingly, and the resolutions are plausible. If you're a bedtime reader, expect a late night when the engaging mixture of a suspenseful plot and intriguing characters seduces you.

This novel has a very interesting structure in which two parallel plots are presented as a way of explaining the sudden absence of a young mother. Anna leaves on a short trip for Italy without telling her best friend and without giving a full explanation to the surrogate father of her child -- a gay man who is busy juggling the pieces of his own life in a way that is similar to Anna. The one difference is that Anna does not have a current love relationship, which according to one of the plot strands is the reason she went to Italy.

When she doesn't return as scheduled, Anna's best friend and the child's father end up caring for the kid and trying to decide what could have happened to Anna and at what point they should notify the authorities. Here the plot bogs down a bit, as the father, the friend, the child and the father's lover have a lot of interchange that is presumably supposed to be highly meaningful, but which I found a bit tiresome.

The portion of the book that moves along at a strong pace is the plot thread that posits a sinister reason for Anna's absence -- that she has been kidnapped by a serial killer who is searching for his great love. The suspense is very well developed in this section of the novel and comprises the primary reason that one would want to read this book.

Many people seem to enjoy Sarah Dunant more than I do. While I like her choice of story topics, I find that once I'm into her book she loses me along way. This is the second of her novels I've read (the other being The Birth of Venus) in which I find her attempts at meaningful dialogue do not, as I assume is intended, reveal the complexities of her characters. Rather, the dialogue seems to further obscure her characters' motivations and feelings, and I wonder if that may not be her intention after all.

In any case, Mapping the Edge is worth reading for its inventive structure, especially the artful way that Dunant creates interfaces between the two plot strands: both incorporate a souvenir horse sculpture that she is brining home to her daughter, for example. This will not be the best novel you'll read this year, but it is a cut above the usual fare.

In "Mapping the Edge," Sarah Dunant's impressionistic thriller, Anna, a single mother with a seven-year-old daughter, takes a break from her life for a short trip to Italy on her own. When she does not return her friends, Estella and Paul--she the best friend, he a (gay) chum of Anna's--act as surrogate parents and rush to Anna's house to relieve the professional babysitter, who has to go home to her family, in caring for the daughter, Lily.

In alternating chapters we are given two possible explanations for Anna's failure to return (titled "Away," these are told in the third person) after which there is a chapter called "home," a first-person narrative related by Estella. This pattern repeats itself for the duration of the journey. Although Ms. Dunant does not specifically say so, perhaps the more sinister version of Anna's fate (she is being held against her will by a stalker) is imagined by Estella while the more romantic one (she has meet a lover and has simply decided to spend one more weekend with him) is imagined by Paul.

Regardless, the interwoven tales mesh smoothly, and the prose is lucidly clear. The characters are believable and somewhat sympathetic--even the stalker. It's a gripping read.

While there IS unquestionably a mystery to be solved in this book, I'd hate to classify this one as simply a "mystery" novel. It is just as much a book about the way we all classify the borders of safety and risk in our lives, walking that fine line everyday - and how a sudden decision can change everything. Rich and rewarding to read, I felt like I'd been shown parts of myself as well as those of the characters in this book. I absolutely loved reading this one! Anna is a single mother, unquestionably devoted to her daughter, Lily, but also torn between the self-sacrifice required of parenthood and the equally strong need for adult pleasure, companionship, passion and love. A pivotal moment occurs when Anna takes off rather suddenly on a trip to Europe - leaving her young daughter in the hands of trusted friends, Paul and Estella. When Anna doesn't return as expected, both friends become worried and then, in turn, more concerned and suspicious. Where is Anna? Is she safe? And could she possibly be a willing part of her own disappearance? The book is written from several points of view - that of Paul and Estella and also that of Anna herself. As the days unfold, so do the events and the mystery deepens. Who is Anna meeting in Europe - and why? Who is the mysterious stranger Anna meets unexpectedly and what part will he play? While I was drawn into this novel, potential readers should know that it can be a bit confusing and tricky to follow at times, as there are several subplots and the action isn't always sequential, jumping from one plot to another in the same day. I understood that this was done to deepen the various mysteries which were unfolding but some readers might find it more than a bit irritating and hard to follow. The mystery and intrique kept me going, however, and made it more than worth the effort. I'm looking forward to reading more books by this author.

I don't usually read mysteries or thrillers, but liked the cover and the premise when I saw it at the train station... single mother goes on a well-earned break and doesn't come home as expected. what could have happened?

Two things set this novel apart: one, it is more than just a mystery but a serious work of fiction examining the hole left in people's lives when a loved one vanishes. The grief of Anna's 6-year-old daughter Lily is palpable because she's trying to be so brave; the stress her friend Estella, who lives in Amsterdam but has come to help, and Paul, her gay friend who acts as a surrogate father to Lily, are under is movingly portrayed. Unfortunately however these chapters don't move the story forward very much because very quickly the reader knows more about what could have happened to Anna than Estella, from whose point of view the "home" sections are written.

The other thing that sets the novel apart is that the "away" sections present two parallel possible stories, in both of which a phone call is made home at a certain time, a toy horse is bought and then damaged, and other details match up. In one, Anna is abducted by an Italian stranger who seems to be madly obsessed with his late wife. In another, Anna has a torrid affair with a man she met in the classified ads, who hides a sinister mystery.

Dunant at least spares us from the concept of having the narratives both be imaginings of her worried friends, and in the end it's not clear which version will be the one that Estella learns.

This gimmick is original and interesting but for me it ultimately doesn't work, because i found one so much more interesting than the other, and both more interesting than the "home" sections.

Ultimately, I did enjoy this, but wasn't engrossed in it-- shifting between points-of-view and parallel universes was jarring.

I couldn't put this book down. I'm hooked on Sarah Dunant. I had a little trouble making sense of the timeline between 2 of the 3 story lines that run parallel but, in the end, it didn't matter. It was quite compelling.

I read this one in two days and I had to work - that is how much I liked it. I have to disagree with several reviewers because I thought the ending was great and I liked the "home" sections as much as the "away." I thought the book moved at a really great pace. I loved the double scenes because there are certain things that make you wonder which one really happened. For instance Anna has this wooden horse that is broken in the same spot and she gets a black eye in both. There was a great little twist with her lover that I thought was really well played out.

The ending was satisfying because you know what will happen next even though Dunant doesn't write it out. I don't know how else that could have ended and not have been for the worse. The only thing I didn't like was Estella's obession for drugs. It seemed a little odd just to throw that into a character and you don't know much else about her.

Overall it was a real quick pace and very well written.

"Mapping the Edge" is a disturbing novel about a woman in crisis. Anna is a single parent who is devoted to her six-year-old daughter, but she still feels a deep void in her life. The book centers around Anna's disappearance during a trip to Italy. Anna's friends, Paul and Stella, look after Lily during her mother's absence, but Anna has not returned when she was expected. As the days pass, Anna's friends fear that something has happened to her. Has she been abducted or is she staying away voluntarily for reasons of her own? In a series of chapters that move back and forth in time and place, the author explores Anna's past and the way that it intersects with her present life. Dunant's sensitive dialogue and psychological insights expose Anna's fear and vulnerability. "Mapping the Edge" is an engrossing novel of suspense that shows how modern women struggle to have it all, but must often settle for much less.

Anna takes a little vacation to Italy, leaving her daughter Lily behind with friends. But when Anna doesn't return from Italy when she's supposed to, people begin to wonder if Anna has abandoned her child. As time passes, those closest to Anna are completely puzzled. How could she abandon her child like that?

This novel was truly exceptional. I picked it up after having a love affair with Dunant's "The Birth of Venus." Dunant's richly written novel has a unique narrative construct. Every other chapter is told by those wondering what has happened to Anna. The other half of the chapters are Anna's tale. The reader gets both sides of the story simultaneously, which is a different experience for the reader. If you are in the mood for a truly unique mystery, give this novel a try.

Overall, I was kept interested, however it was difficult getting used to the rhythm of the rotating chapters of the 3 different story lines - the 2 possible scenarios and the view from back home. The one story line was suspenseful, but the other I found to be a bit trashy. The style of writing reminded me of the movie "Sliding Doors". It was an interesting way to write a book which you don't see very often. Not a very dramatic ending.