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Title: Dark Sister by Graham Joyce ISBN: 0-312-87254-2 Publisher: St. Martin's Press Pub. Date: 03 June, 2000 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.35 (20 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Enthralling Story from Start to Finish
Comment: When I finished reading Graham Joyce's "Dreamside", I was so disappointed I vowed never to read another of his books. As luck would have it, I noticed a hardcover copy of "Dark Sister" on a sale rack in my local bookseller and due to its extremely low price, and my inability to resist a bargain, I picked it up. I finished the story within the span of a day, so enthralling was it; I literally could not put it down!
The story has a quick pace which gets right to the point on page one. Once Maggie, Alex and their children find an old diary wedged within a hole in their fireplace, their lives change radically. Due to the content of the book, Maggie becomes increasingly involved in herblore. As she finds that her simple charms and ointments are effective, she careens into a further unbounded study into the Wiccan craft involving a local herb dealer and a strange old woman. Maggie discovers a surprising power within herself but is unaware that simultaneously, she is unleashing a malevolent force that threatens her own children. Underlying this main plot is the psychological unraveling of Maggie and Alex's relationship, reflected expertly through the mirror of their son Sam's deteriorating behavior. Joyce's skillful alloying of science, psychology and the occult hallmarks the story with a good solid satisfying climax that resolves the characters' plights, and yet manages to leave the reader still tingling with the magical and supernatural implications which linger in the air like a crackle of static energy and imprint on the mind with a flash of color like the aurora bourealis long after the book has been closed and placed on the shelf.
Rating: 4
Summary: Mesmerizing .... disturbing ... not a favorite book
Comment: This book was a mesmerizing read. In fact, I stayed up last night far past my usual bedtime to finish it, biting my nails the whole time.
This is the story of a family that uncovers an old fireplace in the old house they live in. When the chimney sweep comes to clean, he comes upon a hidden diary. The main character, Maggie, starts to read it and becomes fascinated by the herbal remedies in it. As she explores further, it turns out that this is in fact the ancient diary of a witch who died long ago. Maggie goes further and actually begins to practice some magic. An evil spirit is awakened after the diary is unearthed as well. As the story unfolds, Maggie's tinkering in the diary, and tinkering with magic, begins to disrupt and endanger her entire family. I can't say much more because I will reveal too much of the plot if I do so.
Graham Joyce wrote this story well, but left a few things unexplained ... even poorly explained. Though I did find the story mesmerizing, it's not one of the best books I have ever read. I am not tempted to read any more of this author's works. I got the book from the library and am glad I didn't spend the money buying it. It isn't a book you would read more than once -- not a treasured keeper.
Rating: 5
Summary: An Engrossing Tale of Witchcraft and Relationships
Comment: "Dark Sister" is not your ordinary novel about witchcraft. When Maggie, a housewife and mother of two children, and Alex and archeologist, move into a new home, Maggie longs to uncover and use the old fireplace in the house, so Alex pries away its boarded covering to expose the long unused fireplace. While a chimney sweep is cleaning the chimney, he finds a diary hidden inside. Maggie claims the diary and begins to read the over 100 year old book. She discovers that the author is "Bella". She first suspects that Bells was simply an herbalist, but quickly discovers that she was a witch who lived in the house over a hundred years before.
Bound by her husband's lack of respect for her and her dreams [he forbids her to return to school to study psychology, wanting her to be a "proper mother], and the duties of mothering, Maggie searches for her identity by reading the diary and learning more about the remedies and potions described within.
Unable to find all of the herbs mentioned, or to understand the old English words for some of them, she engages the help of a local herbalist, Ash, who has a shop in town. She develops a strong bond with Ash, who is concerned for Maggies zeal to dive in too quickly to the potions and magic described in Bella's diary. He sends Maggie to "Liz" a strange old woman who lives alone and who is quite obviously a witch. Liz shares her knowledge with Maggie, but holds back a secret that is later revealed in the novel.
As Maggie becomes more and more involved in witchcraft, the time she spends away from home and her children becomes a sore point between she and her husband, Alex, who would prefer that she sit at home, minding the children all day.
Also, as Maggie reads further, she discovers that Bella has a "dark sister" mentioned only as "A" in the diary, whom she accuses of causing her to do things that she doesn't want to. Bella becomes increasing paranoid and frightened in her diary and Maggie wants to find out why.
She tries the potions and finds out things about Alex which, coupled with his jealousy of her new hobby and her time away, prompts a serious rift in the marriage, as Alex is completely absorbed in a new area of the dig, which is producing some very exciting and disturbing finds. This dig is an area, coincidentally, which Maggie herself suggested that he might find something.
Maggie continues to move too quickly into the world of Wicca, and on the brink of losing her children and her sanity, comes to a discovery of the true story of Bella and her dark sister.
The story of Bella and her dark sister is so moving and sad, and speaks so well of human ignorance. The novel ends well, and I felt that loose ends were well tied up. I especially loved the way the novel was written, in terms of the speech used by the Bella, and old Liz.
This is a wonderfully entertaining novel, which explores both Wicca, it's past, and equality in relationships. Enjoy!
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Title: Dreamside by Graham Joyce ISBN: 0312875460 Publisher: Tor Books Pub. Date: 07 March, 2001 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
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Title: Requiem : A Dark Fantasy of Miracles & Madness by Graham Joyce ISBN: 0312864523 Publisher: Tor Books Pub. Date: 15 January, 1998 List Price(USD): $13.95 |
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Title: The Tooth Fairy : A Novel by Graham Joyce ISBN: 0312868332 Publisher: Tor Books Pub. Date: 15 December, 1998 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
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Title: Smoking Poppy : A Novel by Graham Joyce ISBN: 0671039407 Publisher: Washington Square Press Pub. Date: 18 March, 2003 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
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Title: The Facts of Life : A Novel by Graham Joyce ISBN: 0743463420 Publisher: Atria Books Pub. Date: 17 June, 2003 List Price(USD): $24.00 |
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