Serena: A Novel
by Ron Rash
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Book Reviews of Serena: A Novel
Book Review: Is this a fechtwunde I see before me?
Summary: 4 Stars
It's hard to follow the career of Ron Rash without a sense of pride. In 2005, in Toronto, I bought a copy of the O.Henry Awards for that year, intending to read an entry by a former teacher. I enjoyed it, but I enjoyed another story even more. It was called 'Speckled Trout', by Ron Rash. My first taste of his work left me hungry for more - and I bought both the novels he had published by then (One Foot in Eden, Saints at the River) to take with me for the plane trip home to Staffordshire. My hunger still raged. Within the month, I'd read Rash's story collections, and two volumes of his poetry too. In 2007 I eagerly read his third novel, The World Made Straight. Rash's quiet strengths, unflashy style and modesty hooked me in, as did his thorough knowledge of his home turf of North Carolina, comparable to Breece D'J Pancake's of West Virginia.
And now we have his new novel (his first to published in the U.K) flanked by a fighter escort of proud reviews from The New York Times. I say 'new' - other Rash fans may have sampled a taster in his short story 'Pemberton's Bride' (from Chemistry and Other Stories). It's more than gratifying to see its expansion, the inclusion of such a wide supporting cast to widen the drama.
The comparisons to Cormac McCarthy are justified, but, I think, not always helpful. The American 'Southern Writers' have the same problem as Ethiopian long-distance runners: everyone expects them to out-perform their contemporaries, and so, oddly, don't always pay them proper respect when they do. They can be taken for granted, at times. Rash's respect for McCarthy would be clear even without the dialogue in Saints at the River about Blood Meridian. (Rash has never concealed his admiration for Flannery O'Connor either.) But there's a time when you have to ignore the scaffolding and appreciate the beauty of the building. I think the same goes for Rash. I hope the future will greet his future novels just as heartily.
Book Review: Bold Evilness
Summary: 4 Stars
When the story opens, both the reader and the community of Waynesville, North Carolina are introduced to Serena. George Pemberton went to Boston to take care of family business and returns to his timber company in Waynesville, with his captivating but certainly not blushing bride. Also waiting on the train platform are a pregnant 16 year-old girl and her father. When the father approaches George, it is Serena who speaks out that we will settle this incident here and now and hands her husband, his hunting knife which just happens to be a wedding present from Serena. As expected, the father is killed; Serena informs the girl that - nothing is due her and her unborn child. And the reader knows that more is to come and one wonders when Serena will get her due.
While Ron Rash weaves an intriguing gothic tale of the adventures of George and Serena - as they begin their timber empire, becoming greedier as the wealth and power appear unlimited. The reader will be quickly turning pages to see the outcome of their schemes. But, do not turn the pages too quickly as the story of the history of western North Carolina in the early depression years is just as engaging as Serena antics. There is one group of investors who are looking to strip the land of its resources both above and below the ground and another group which wish to preserve the land as a national park. Both of these are outsiders - and the locals are the ones to lose which ever side wins. This is still a current theme preserving our environment versus providing jobs for local people. The author does a good job of having the locals have their say and interspersed in the story is local folklore and dialect.
I recommend this book to readers of southern literature, gothic literature and environmentalists and this fast-paced story should be put on summer reading lists.
Reviewed by Beverly
APOOO BookClub
May 6, 2009
Book Review: If only Lady MacBeth had had an eagle........
Summary: 2 Stars
"Serena" is a good novel----if you are on a plane and the in-flight magazine is missing from the seatback. There's plenty of mayhem and murder, a period piece setting (a lumber camp in the Appalachians in 1929), a trouser-wearing Lady MacBeth type, and even some eco-musings by locals upset with the despoiling of the land. Throw in a crusading newspaper editor, a sheriff with a heart of gold, a local Thoreau, and the pregnant teenager with whom the rapacious (in every way!) lumber baron has exercised droit de seigneur, and you have yourself a page turner. You also, not surprisingly, have a bunch of flat characters whose dialogue is so predictable you can close your eyes and imagine, with near total accuracy, what they are going to say. (The Pemberton sexual encounters are especially stilted.) The same goes for the ending; while the rattlesnakes are a nice touch, there's never any doubt where the novel is headed.
This is a good thing on a plane, since you probably don't want to be reading Proust while juggling your pretzels (if you're lucky!) and Diet Coke, but not such a good thing if you actually want to settle down with a good book. "Serena" can't decide whether it's historical fiction spiced up with bodice-ripper detail or a bodice-ripper with some improving historical touches. If you have no trips in your future---not even a trip to the beach---and you really want to check out "Lady MacBeth does North Carolina," wait for the film. Someone has surely purchased the rights; I can see Angelina Jolie astride her horse, eagle lashed to her wrist, right now.
N.B. I read this on a Kindle. It was astoundingly full of proofing errors (e.g., "shown" for "shone"). I have no idea whether this is true for the print version, but HarperCollins e-Books, the publisher, ought to clean up the mess.
Book Review: Like Bad Seed's Rhoda all grown up!
Summary: 4 Stars
Set in 1920's North Carolina, the book starts with the wealthy timber baron Pemberton arriving back at the lumber camp with his new wife, Serena. Serena is very different from what the locals (poor but resilient mountain folk) are used to: she hunts and rides horse just like a man, knows as much about felling trees as the lumberjacks, and is a very savvy businesswoman. It soon becomes clear that Serena is running the show, with Pemberton taking the back seat.
Rachel Harmon is one of the mountain folk caught in Pemberton and Serena's web. The teenage Rachel was seduced--and then abandoned--by Pemberton, and has given birth to his illegitimate son. Now she has to try and care for the boy with no help from Pemberton, since Serena forbids it. More and more people begin to feel Serena's wrath: from the business partner who is perceived as weak to the Sherriff who dares to interfere when things start to get bloody. It very quickly becomes obvious that Serena is not a woman you want to cross.
This book is hard to peg in just one genre. It's historical fiction, but it could also be classified as horror. It's a psycological drama, but with an environmental bent. The blending of the different genres makes this an interesting and unique book. I especially liked the descriptions of the woods and mountains, and the struggle to make the Smokies into a National Park. It was a fun little surprise to see Kephart and Albright make small appearances, especially after recently watching Ken Burn's National Park series. Serena herself is not a character you want to tangle with. She's very chilling and reminded me of what Rhoda from The Bad Seed would've been like all grown up. Not a comforting thought!
Book Review: Well written book hampered by implausible plot elements
Summary: 2 Stars
Much of this book was very enjoyable -- the vivid descriptions of the land; the local dialects and the banter among the loggers; some (but not all) of the character development. I would repeatedly find myself getting sucked into this book; but too often I would find myself rolling my eyes by either a turn in the story that was just too implausible to overlook or the use of characters who were far too one-dimensional to be believable.
I don't want to give too much away, but here are a few examples. The inclusion of the logger's mother with psychic powers was just silly, and struck me as a rather lazy way to create more tension and sense of danger by making it nearly impossible for the Pemberton's victims to hide and get away. I found Pemberton's unwavering devotion to his wife to be implausible - or at least never adequately explained. The conversation among the loggers near the end in which they suddenly realized the environmental devastation they wrought was just a bit over the top in that it practically sounded like they were about to stand up and organize a chapter of Greenpeace. The conclusion of the story felt both unrealistic and unsatisfying.
The most well-developed character was Rachel Harmon, and I found those parts of the book that focused on her, and her struggle to care for and protect her child, to be the most enjoyable. As noted above, the dialog among the local loggers was a lot of fun to read in most cases. But the parts of the story that focused on the ambition and greed of the Pembertons and their resulting killing spree felt shallow, predictable, and at times just a bit ridiculous.