“We all tell stories about ourselves, some repeated so often that we can honestly believe them to be the truth. Stories are our self-protective coating. Everyone has them, not only the people who have survived terrible families, though clearly they will have a larger canon than most.
And what narrative had I invented for my life with Dom? There were plenty, I now realized. Nothing important at first, but that’s the thing with stories–like lies, they start small. You play around to see what feels comfortable.”
Our weather this week has been so wonderfully representative of what I want fall to be. The nights have been cool and they create the perfect mood for immersion into Deborah Lawrenson’s novel, The Lantern. I hope everyone else has had time to get lost in the countryside of Southern France this past week.
Kailana supplied the questions for this second of three weeks of discussion. For those of you who are not reading the novel but want to, following along after the jump is something you do not want to do. Spoilers are present in abundance.
1. The title of this book is The Lantern, and a lantern makes an appearance in both of the stories. In Benedicte’s past, it had a meaning, but what do you think the lantern signifies in her future and in Eve’s story?
At this point in the story I am seeing the lantern in Eve’s story as just one more manifestation of the ghosts of Benedicte’s past bleeding through to Eve’s present. I assume there is more to it than that, but those are initial impressions. The lantern represented Benedicte and Andre’s love and then became a symbol of his betrayal when she found out that she was not his fiance, just his lover, as he was already married. I have to think at this point that the past relationship in some way points to and is a reflection of the relationship between Eve and Dom. We, like Eve, are no longer sure of the status of their relationship and perhaps never really were as it has always been a bit of a mystery.
2. Carl mentioned scents in last weeks questions, but they have been addressed even more in these sections. What significance do you think scents have in this story overall?
I will freely admit that it may be that I have just gotten used to it, but as we begin to learn more about Marthe’s scent-enveloped life the “overdone” scent descriptions of the first section seem to diminish. I haven’t noticed Eve describing things as much in aroma-filled terminology unless she is specifically talking about the mysterious scents that are haunting her home at various times. I did find it fun that almost immediately in this second week of reading we are treated to Marthe’s description of the various scents and flavors in wine, something a few of us noted in our discussion of the first section.
It makes sense that both Benedicte and Eve are experiencing the sudden appearances of scents in the house considering that scent is essentially what Marthe’s life was all about and we are seeing that she is part of the haunting that is being revealed by Benedicte’s story.
3. What do you think of the combining storyline of Marthe? She connects Benedicte, Eve, and Rachel. What do you think will be revealed about this connection in the next sections?
I am liking Marthe’s story and am happy it is being used as a connecting device. In the first two parts of the book, The Lantern appeared to be very heavily influenced by the novel Rebecca. After the mention of du Maurier’s novel at the end of Part II I felt the book shift to some degree and begin following, perhaps not its own unique path, but one that at least varies to degrees from the path of Rebecca. A large part of this variance is the addition of Marthe’s tale and how it is influencing both of the story’s major plot lines.
4. Now that things are beginning to move along, what do you think of the characters? Are any standing out for you? Do you particularly like any? Dislike any?
I didn’t strongly dislike Dom like many of the readers did during the first week of reading. I didn’t particularly like him either but wanted to reserve judgement until more was revealed. Well, not too much more has been revealed but I am much less fond of him in this week’s reading. But I actually consider that, as well as my growing frustration with Eve’s self-deception, as exactly what should be happening with this book so it is in no way harming my enjoyment of the story. I mean, if Dom wasn’t sullen and secretive, where would the suspense be? If Eve was a sensible romantic rather than blindly in love and self-delusional, why would we be spending any time with her? I found it refreshing that she was more insistent on him answering her questions after he was released from arrest, but not long after Eve began making her usual excuses and went back to clinging to this relationship.
I do enjoy how every character we’ve come to meet, apart from the police force, is suspicious and possibly more or less than they seem. That allows for the presence of subtle red herrings that keep us guessing about what exactly the end result will be.
Of course I already hated Pierre and his behaviors in this part of the book just make him even more hated. He is a good, one-dimensional bad guy who comes into the picture every so often to throw off the scent of what is happening with other characters in the past.
5. What do you think really happened to Marthe and Annette? What do you think the significance of the bones in the pool are to the story? Especially now that it has been revealed that Rachel is also dead.
Well at the moment I am thinking that is is them, or one of them, in the pool. I’ve actually been thinking it is Marthe who was dead ever since it was mentioned that she disappeared from public life suddenly. All the foreshadowing certainly leads me to believe Pierre killed them. Of course I initially thought he might have killed them that night when Benedicte described his dirty clothes, but then she saw them after that. Still, I assume he did the deed while Benedicte was off trying to fetch help.
The pool itself seems too old for it to have had anything do with where Rachel is. That’s not to say she isn’t buried somewhere nearby. It is hard telling at this point. I’m open enough to the story taking multiple directions that it wouldn’t entirely surprise me if she was actually alive.
6. Do you have any other things you think are significant to talk about? Are there any other predictions to be made for the last two sections of the book?
Well, there is only one section of the book left and the Epilogue and they aren’t particularly long, but I am excited about what they may reveal. I’m not going to make any predictions. I have really enjoyed the book thus far and my hope is that this final section will wrap things up in a way that justifies my feelings about the book to this point.
7. Lastly, what do you think of this book overall? Other than for the read-along, why are you reading it? Is it meeting your expectations?
I sort of answered this above, but yes it is definitely meeting my expectations and I am very pleased that we chose to read this for our October group read. The book has maintained a simmering, steadily building air of mystery and the atmosphere the book creates is exactly the sort of thing I want to be reading on cool October nights. Every year I look for this type of book, something that will be a kindred spirit to books like Rebecca, or like Diane Setterfield’s debut novel, The Thirteenth Tale. While at this point I would still consider those superior books, I believe The Lantern is good company and certainly belongs at the table. It all depends on the ending now, look forward to getting to it and discussing it next week.
Please leave a link to your Week Two post below.
I agree a lot with your answers. I really enjoyed parts 3 and 4 and wasn’t too bothered by the descriptions anymore. Im’ not sure there are less or that I got used to.
I really like the quote to chose for the ebginning of your post. It struck me when I read it.
I dislike Dom even more and start to feel pity for Rachel. She seems to have been a troubled person and with someone that distant…
I had the feeling Pierre might have killed the two women but I didn’t think the bones were necessarily their bones.
In these parts it meets my expectations, it is supsensful and I didn’t want to stop reading.
I’m not either, Caroline, although occasionally I found myself looking for them and didn’t notice them as often.
I’m not sure how I feel about Rachel and I think that is largely because I keep comparing the story to Rebecca. I keep wondering if Rachel was a good person or if she was more like the departed Rebecca in du Maurier’s tale. Sabine keeps reminding me of Mrs. Danvers and that makes me question what kind of person Rachel was.
I’m not big with Dom either. I am having a hard time feeling any empathy for him because he isn’t giving me much of a reason to feel anything positive for him.
I’m still not sure whose bones those are. I think Lawrenson is still keeping us off balance by not revealing everything.
Hey, I think the police are a little suspicious, too… I mean, they’re police and all but I’m with Eve on them — if the pool has been around for thirty-odd years and they’re still investigating Dom and to some degree Eve for a murder? There must be some reason they’d think a person would dig up a pool under which something incriminating lay, and I wish they’d tell me what it is!
I’m not yet ready to be suspicious about the police, they seem to be acting the same way police do in any police drama, they point the fingers to keep people off balance and to make sure they don’t miss anything. They might be part of what is going on, but given how late they came into the story I’m not sure I would buy them as part of what was going on with the disappearances, etc.
Unless of course it is something to do with the treasure. Hmmm….
I still don’t dislike Dom, but at the same time I do think that he needs to be a bit less brooding and actually talk things out with Eve. I was surprised when he revealed that Rachel had cancer. I’m wondering if he did kill her, but in a euthanasia/mercy killing situation completely independent of the serial killings that seem to have been going on in the area. I’m kind of hoping that that’s what it was, because I really don’t think that Dom is the one guilty of the murders, despite his suspicious behavior.
I’m probably more annoyed with Dom than anything. I think the stereotypical male genes in me make me want to slap him and say, “Stand up and be a man!!!”. He seems to mope around around far too much for me.
The cancer thing surprised me too, as I was suspecting just before that that he would say she died in childbirth. I’m still very, very suspicious about Rachel’s whereabouts. The mercy killing idea is an interesting one!
I would be disappointed if everything pointed to Dom because that seems like the more obvious route the story would take. I find myself torn though again because I keep comparing it to Rebecca. Unlike Mr. DeWinter, Dom isn’t giving me anything much to strongly like him so if he ends up being innocent I’m not sure that I’ll be satisfied that if he and Eve stay together because of the way he has treated her. I guess it will depend on how this all plays out in this final part of the book.
Grace I totally agree. Dom needs to cut the crap and tell the truth, because wondering and speculating about what he is *obviously* hiding is what is killing his relationship with Eve.
Trust should be the basis of any relationship, if you don’t have that I don’t think you have anything really. And Eve doesn’t trust Dom, whether she will or not by the end of the book is another question.
It is odd at this point that Dom is so clueless about what he is doing to this relationship which certainly seemed at the beginning to mean so very much to him. I hope we get some satisfactory explanation for his stupid behavior in the last section of this book.
I still haven’t read The Thirteenth Tale, I really should get around to it at some point 🙂
I’m really enjoying this book. It is a quick, interesting, mysterious story and I find myself wanting to constantly read on and find out some answers.
If you are enjoying this, I suspect you would LOVE The Thirteenth Tale. It is wonderful.
I can’t wait to jump back into the last part of The Lantern.
Same reaction on The Thirteenth Tale love. What an incredible story and I’m loving The Lantern thus far as well.
Ah, The Thirteenth Tale is wonderful, isn’t it? I’m glad you are enjoying The Lantern, I am as well. I’m excited and sad that it is coming to an end.
Rebecca and The Thirteenth Tale were really quite good. I am not sure if I put this book quite on the same level, but it was still really good.
I wouldn’t put this book on that same level either, but I am really enjoying it. Those other two books are special and few things compare to the experience I had reading those.
I’m not sure either if I just got used to the scent descriptions or if they diminished but I really didn’t think of them as much in the second section.
Rebecca is such a ridiculously good book, right? If it wasn’t, there wouldn’t be imitators. 🙂 I can’t wait to discuss the end of this book!
I love how Rebecca has stood the test of time. And it doesn’t surprise me that Rebecca, and Daphne du Maurier in general, comes up often every year at R.I.P. time.
I don’t really feel like I have any real sense of what Rachel was like–there is lots of talk about her but as Dom isn’t saying anything and Sabine is just giving hints she almost doesn’t feel like a real person. I’m curious about the smells Benedicte encounters as if she knows something about Marthe, but I am not sure of the timeline–it seems to move around a bit–sometimes it is whatever present it happens to be and then sometimes it seems as though it is Benedicte thinking back over events. I’m thinking it must be Marthe under the pool, though why she wouldn’t have been buried with the younger girl she was teaching is confusing. Then I thought the second set of bones might be Rachel. But Pierre is dead and what happened to him as well? I think I will be flying through these last 80 pages!
I definitely think we are meant to have little idea about Rachel to this point, it makes her more mysterious. We are getting this one-sided view and it seems to me that that should make us suspicious about her.
I like that we are not just getting Benedicte’s revelations of her own past but also some ideas about what is occurring in her present, the hauntings and such. It makes me so curious about what ultimately will happen to her and what exactly she knows but hasn’t revealed about the fate of her siblings.
I’m just popping in to sort of keep up on the conversation… I am almost caught up to this second installment of questions. I am liking it but finding the book really slow and heavy on the description. That’s not all bad, but my pulse is not exactly racing. I am curious about what Dom’s story is, and what happened with Rachel — that has hooked me. I’m also enjoying Marthe’s journey, but the switching back and forth between narrators is a little tired at this point. I think I’m enjoying the book, but it’s lacking in the advertised atmosphere (although at the part I am at, it’s finally starting to build) and is a little gimmicky (enough with the scents!). Still, on a scale from 1 to 10, at this point it’s a 6.5, with room to grow.
I’m liking it a bit more than you. I did finish it last night and am giving it an 8 out of 10. I’ve liked the scents from the start and felt like they lessened as the book went on but also became more of an integrated part of the story. I certainly had a hard time with the narrator switches at first, but once I got into this week’s reading I either was used to it or it just worked better because of the way Marthe’s story was bleeding across both narrators. The whole Rachel story definitely becomes more of a hook in this section, to be sure.
I think I’m just getting to the part where it gets good, so I’m hoping to elevate my score!
Great! I finished it last night with one long binge read of the final section of the book and I am really pleased with it. It isn’t on par with The Thirteenth Tale, or with Rebecca which inspired this book, but it was what I hoped it would be and I’m so glad that you joined us in this read.
I’m having such a difficult time with this book. I’ve wanted to love it after all the hype, but it’s difficult. First, I’m turned off by the author’s trying so hard to be cultured and elegant. Maybe it’s our American up-bringing, but isn’t understatement preferrable? So much seems contrived and overdone.
Also, the scents seem to permeate the story too much–no pun intended, and they often just don’t make sene; the combinations she expresses are inprobable. I’m so tired of hearing about them. Fragrances need to be dabbed here and there to have the right impact, don’t you think? They would have a bigger impact that way.
It’s a cardinal rule in literature that when an author focuses too much on description and not enough on characterization, the book will not be a good one. Is it me, or is there just too much description here? We can’t possibly know or understand Dom because there’s been very little character development. What may be the biggest issue is that the author’s spent a great deal of time describing her home and what she sees out the window of her “crumbling hamlet in Provence, France.” (From her bio. on the book cover)
I’m worried that Ms Lawrenson has tried so hard to write a modern version of “Rebecca” that it’s falling flat for me. I’m sad about it. Benedicte is probably the most interesting character to me, presently, but I’m struggling to want to read this novel. You all are keeping me going, here!! Help!!
I got much further into the book last night and I have to say that I agree with Deborah… sadly, although I *really* wanted to love this book, it’s just falling flat for me. I call it the “Red Tent” syndrome — as in, that book, The Red Tent, could have been SO MUCH MORE, but it just didn’t go far enough, deep enough, rich enough. The big reveal (although I am guessing there are a few more reveals to come) was bizarre and I’m not really feeling much sympathy for anyone. I’m also having a hard time figuring out the point of the story — what exactly is the plot? I get the feeling there are two lines supposed to be coming together, but I am not seeing the parallel yet, and I’m not feeling any dread, or much suspense, and the whole thing is just vaguely disappointing. But so pretty! I love the pictures it’s making it my head — I’ll give it that.
Not sure if you’ll find it better when you finish, Daphne, but I thought they drew everything together very nicely in the end. Of course I can’t talk about that until next Monday! Bad me!
I’m sorry you aren’t loving it Deborah. I didn’t hear much hype about it although my expectations were still high and for the most part it really has met those. The scent thing seems to have a pretty even split between those who really enjoy it and feel that it works well (I do) and those who don’t.
“It’s a cardinal rule in literature that when an author focuses too much on description and not enough on characterization, the book will not be a good one.” I don’t think I agree with that statement at all. There are different writing styles, some which are very character driven and others that are more focused on details and ideas and the characters are not necessarily multi-dimensional but are there simply to drive the plot, which is the major focus of the book. I’ve read good versions of both of these kinds of books and many in between.
I do think that if this book suffers at all with readers it has something to do with it being built upon the foundation of Rebecca. I wonder if it would have been better if she would have moved away from the similarities more and if the publishers wouldn’t have pushed that aspect of the story. Again, I really like it but where I have knocked it down a peg or two from being a 10/10 book is that I find myself too often thinking of Rebecca when I should be thinking about this book.
“I do think that if this book suffers at all with readers it has something to do with it being built upon the foundation of Rebecca. I wonder if it would have been better if she would have moved away from the similarities more and if the publishers wouldn’t have pushed that aspect of the story.” – I definitely agree with this, and in the end it’s what made me not enjoy the book, to be honest.
In any case, I just wanted to pop over, see the entries from last week, and apologize to everyone for not being a part of it in week 2! Life got just a little bit too interesting for any blogging, but I’ve really enjoyed looking over these posts and links. I’m going to have to revisit the ending and then revisit my post for week 3 to see if I have anything else to say.