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Contemporary Fiction Views: When everything works in a novel except one crucial aspect [1]

['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.']

Date: 2023-08-15

Once upon a time, a teenage girl had the misfortune to become pregnant by a college boy who dumped her the moment she told him what happened. Her father struck her face. He made plans to send her away so she could have the baby and give it away in private. She runs away. At the bus station, another runaway tells her about a community where all are welcome. So that's where they head. It's a fatal decision.

This is the opening third of Alice Hoffman's new novel, The Invisible Hour. The book begins with another teenage girl. Mia is going to be punished by that community in the morning, branded for sneaking to the public library and reading books. Mia is the daughter of that pregnant teen, Ivy. Their stories connect and build on each other. What happens to one of them affects the other.

Ivy gives birth to Mia at the community and remains there because she has been threatened by the charismatic cult leader. He marries her and keeps her close by. He doesn't care for Mia except as yet another person under his control, and a tool to use to keep Ivy in check.

Although cult members are not supposed to have family ties to those they are related to, Mia knows Ivy is her mother. They share many secret moments over the years, and a love of reading, of stories. Ivy's love of story is so ingrained that when she is asked where she is from, she'll say it's west of the moon. When they are both assigned to the cult's produce stand in town, Ivy covers when Mia sneaks to the public library. Later, the librarian literally saves Mia's life.

The cult leader is not going to put up with that, when Mia's hidden books are discovered.

This first third of the novel is well told and plotted. Anyone who has been emotionally abused might even relive those feelings when the cult leader takes of Ivy's life and tries to control Mia. Also vividly drawn is the magic of books.

The Scarlet Letter is the book that calls to Mia the most. It's not just the story. She is amazed to find an inscription to her in a first edition. She's convinced the only man she will ever love is the author, even though Nathanial Hawthorne died more than 100 years before she was born.

There's a reason for that, and it is described later in the novel. But that's after the novel jumps the shark.

In the second section, Mia is transported back in time to Hawthorne's era. Just as in Gabaldon's Outlander, Mia finds her king of men. Oh dear.

Nathaniel Hawthorne, love interest

This is such a huge shame. It's not the paranormal aspect, or even the time travel aspect. It's the fanfic aspect. And it's such a shame because it is integral to how the journeys of Mia and her beloved author turn out. Hoffman's plotting is that good. What they mean to each other, and how they affect each other, are intrinsically connected to the love of story and how inspiring a good story can be. Hoffman's interpretation of A Scarlet Letter also is good, and fits in well with the modern story she has crafted.

Another positive aspect of the novel is the description of Hawthorne trying to write. He doesn’t want to just put words down on paper, he wants to tell stories that convey what he sees and feels.

This is frustrating because so much of the novel is well done and engaging.

Many novels today contain multiple stories. They don't always mesh successfully, so that the total is greater than the sum of its parts. Sometimes, it's a near-miss. Other times, a reader can wish that one of the stories hadn't been used in an attempt to bring all the stories together.

Any reader who can get past the fanfic aspect of The Invisible Hour will be rewarded with wonderful character studies of personal empowerment in various times and situations, and how an open heart can be a boon to both the person with the heart and the person who they love.

READERS & BOOK LOVERS SERIES SCHEDULE

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[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/8/15/2187017/-Contemporary-Fiction-Views-When-everything-works-in-a-novel-except-one-crucial-aspect

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