Customer Reviews

The Seventh Unicorn (Berkley Fiction)

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

 

 

This book is no DaVinci Code. Rather, The Seventh Unicorn is part soap opera, part cozy mystery. The premise upon which it's based is intriguing, and well founded in art history, the most engimatic medieval tapestries being the Unicorn series in Paris and the other in NYC. What is disappointing about this plot is the ease with which everything falls into the heroine's lap, the transparency of the other characters, and the total absence of suspence. What's valuable and enjoyable about the plot is the information provided about the tapestries, their iconography and symbolism, and their possible provenance, as well as the glimpse into the art and museum world.

Above all, this is a delicious, pretty little love story. Actually, parallel love stories. One in the 15th century; one in the 21st.

In the lush tradition of art history mysteries, author Kelly Jones sets her evocative and sensually narrated tale amidst the cloistered world of museums and convents, specifically Paris' Musée National du Moyen Age (formerly the Cluny), and its exquisite set of six tapestries jointly known as The Lady and the Unicorn. And museums/nunneries is not the first set of mirrored circumstances in her debut novel. The entire story is full of wonderful reflective plot lines separated by hundreds of years.

Weaving established facts and accepted speculation as to the origin and meaning of the tapestries, Jones takes her heroine Alex to a Lyon convent, where construction workers have found a 15th century tapestry in the ancient walls. How did the priceless object come to be there? Is it indeed the seventh of the Lady and the Unicorn set? Alex finds herself in a race against time and ill-motivated competitors to establish the authenticity of the tapestry and acquire it for the Cluny. Along the way a former beau, Jake, magically arrives, and provides unexpected help and passion. Their love rekindles, yet remains illusive as Alex considers her roles of curator, mother, daughter, and woman; all of these roles seem mutually exclusive to her. But are they? Should they be compartmentalized?

Jones describes the daily circumstances of her characters with keen attention to the senses of sight, taste, smell, and touch, in homage to the tapestries famous themes. But what, the reader wonders, is "mon seul desir" of Alex? Of Jake? The path to uncover the truth about the seventh tapestry leads to discovery of Alex's own true nature and source of happiness, her own sole desire.

I chose this book because it seemed like a nice easy-going read. All in all it was a great read. This book was kind of slow in the beginning but picked up towards the middle. The whole book is set in the fictional world of the undiscovered seventh tapestry of The Lady and the Unicorn.
The book starts in Medeval times with a rich girl named Adele Le Viste who falls in love with a common person. It then morphs into modern day Paris with a museum curator Alex Benoit and her ex boyfriend Jake Bowman. It is a nice love story but somewhat predictable. There are similarities between Adele and modern age Alex.
Even though this book has a slow start it is a great book and I would recommend it for some light easy reading.

I think it was A.S. Byatt's _Possession_ that got me addicted to the historical-interest mysteries that are in vogue lately. I've come to really love the sort of book where people hunt around looking for ancient artifacts or long-lost manuscripts. So I couldn't resist picking up _The Seventh Unicorn_, which tells the story of a (fictional) seventh tapestry in the (real) "Lady and the Unicorn" series, and two former lovers who rekindle their romance while trying to preserve it.

This book is not bad at all. It is, however, a first novel, and there are two things about it that just didn't work for me. First, the male lead, Jake, doesn't appeal to me as much as he's supposed to. Even if he was having problems with his fiancee before running into his former lover, he would have at least spared his fiancee half a thought in the course of several hundred pages. Instead, she seems to vanish for about two-thirds of the book and is much less important to the story than she should be.

Second, the author was perhaps a bit too easy on the characters. I'm used to novels like this having some conflict--some cutthroat tactics, some suspense, at least some interpersonal tension. Instead, the denouement of this book seems to be a series of things falling too perfectly, too easily, into place. Characters I thought were menacing turned out to be merely gruff but well-meaning. Exes who should have been bitter, instead smile and nod magnanimously. And the Deep Dark Secret that underpins the story was too easily guessed. I think the prologue telegraphed far too much of the plot.

Again, this book was not bad at all, and I did like it. However, I think it needed some more conflict. It was just a bit too placid.

This was a nice, light summer read. Even though the plot and characters were a bit predictible, I still enjoyed it.

What a pleasure to read Kelly Jones' Seventh Unicorn. The characters are believable, the premise interestly unusual. Mostly, the writing is superb.

The book started out great - suspenseful with some interesting characters. I loved how the author explained the symbolism in ancient tapestries. About halfway through the book though, it started to drag. I didn't understand the actions of some of the characters - actions just seemed "out of the blue". This would be a good vacation read.

Reverend Mother Superior Alvere sends a note to Madame Demy, Director of the, Cluny Museum in Paris, that states that the Convent of Saint Blandine is closing and before they do they need to "dispose" of their valuable medieval tapestries, linen, and manuscripts. The nuns hope to sell their collection in order to preserve their way of life. Demy sends her expert American born curator Alex Pellier to examine the treasures only to find the Mother Superior ill and others not quite as cooperative. A bit disappointed not to start, Alex spends time with the sun of her existence, her daughter Soliel.

Alex returns to the convent and finds two drawings that strongly imply a seventh Unicorn Tapestry exists; the Cluny possesses six. Needing assistance she hires her former art school lover Jake Bowman to help her track down the tapestry while promising the nuns to obtain best value for them if she finds it. As they search together, each knows that they work along side their true love, but she tried marriage once and that failed.

THE SEVENTH UNICORN is a remarkable contemporary romance due to the fascinating parallels between the tale of the tapestries and the life of the heroine. The intriguing story line allows the sexual tension to grow at the same time a melancholy exists as the end of several centuries of existence is coming because progress requires a hotel not a thirteenth century monastery at Saint Blandine. Fans will feel the varying emotions that make for a superb modern day romance with a nostalgic look at the heritage treasures including architecture that becomes extinct in the name of the economy.

Harriet Klausner

this is the best way I can put it.
This book is less intense, less political, less of a thriller, if compared with Dan Brown's best seller. More of a soft and sweet love story plot, mellow and feminal. You can tell it's from a female author.
Other than that, it's got Da Vinci Code's many features, such as the basic elements: France, museum curator, ancient (medieval) art work (s), mysterious background of the piece, etc; the story unfolds as a chase of the origin/meaning behind the art work; and even the simple character setting -- basically "one guy and one woman, after all, fall in love" kind of stuff while other characters don't matter that much.

I don't want to list more, or this would become a spoiler. But you will see, throughout the whole book, all the way to the end. The design is very much similar.

I, personally, might prefer a more original novel, but frankly this book is pretty good. All these proven-to-be-popular elements work well.

A good read at bed time.