{"id":9867,"date":"2022-07-18T07:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-07-18T11:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vweisfeld.com\/?p=9867"},"modified":"2022-07-17T21:08:43","modified_gmt":"2022-07-18T01:08:43","slug":"the-woman-in-the-library","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vweisfeld.com\/?p=9867","title":{"rendered":"The Woman in the Library"},"content":{"rendered":"
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When you read this latest psychological thriller by Sulari Gentill, The Woman in the Library<\/a><\/em>, you may need to stop every so often and think, where am I? Its clever plot is like a set of nesting boxes, and you have to check which box you\u2019re in. You may be familiar with Gentill\u2019s ten historical novels featuring gentleman detective Rowland Sinclair, and, though this is not part of that series, it displays the same storytelling chops.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this story, Australian author Hannah is writing a contemporary novel set in the United States. Her main character, Winifred (\u2018Freddie\u2019) Kinkaid is also an author, working on a new book in the inspiring setting of the Boston Public Library. One day she finds herself at a table with three more young people and idly muses about them. They\u2019d make great characters in her novel, she thinks. So, what you are reading are the chapters in Hannah\u2019s novel, concerning Freddie and her new friends.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They\u2019ve all four quietly checked each other out, but the ice is broken when a piercing scream shatters the library\u2019s stillness. Oddly, the scream pulls them together. They speculate, start to chat, introduce themselves, and soon wander off for coffee as a group. The other woman, Marigold, heavily tattooed, has a rather obvious crush on their tablemate, Whit Metters, and the fourth is a handsome fellow named Cain McLeod. After that unusual bonding experience, the four spend much time together, especially when their curiosity is raised by the discovery of a murdered woman, presumably the screamer, under a table in the library meeting room.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hannah (fictional, remember) is a best-selling author back in Australia, and as she\u2019s writing about daily life in another country, she accepts the offer from a Boston-based fan to review her chapters and look for anachronisms in vocabulary\u2014\u2018jumper\u2019 instead of \u2018sweater,\u2019 \u2018crisps\u2019 instead of \u2018potato chips,\u2019 and the like\u2014and location details. This man, Leo Johnson, is also an author, very down in the dumps about the publishing industry\u2019s lack of interest in his book. Chapters of Hannah\u2019s book are followed by a \u2018Dear Hannah\u2019 reaction from Leo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At first, Leo\u2019s advice is confined to minor factual matters and minor adjustments in descriptions. The fact that the fictional Freddie encounters these cultural quirks makes sense, as she\u2019s Australian, too. She\u2019s able to work on her book and live in Boston\u2019s upscale Back Bay, thanks to a fellowship. A neighboring flat is occupied by another fellowship recipient, a character whom Hannah names Leo Johnson. (A third Leo is buried in the name McLeod. Significant?) Her correspondent is delighted at being recognized in this way, which may contribute to his growing intrusiveness. He makes corrections, fights for his suggestions, and sends photos he thinks Hannah might (should?) use for inspiration. His long-distance efforts to encroach on her creative territory made me increasingly uneasy! Creepy!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, in Hannah\u2019s novel, the four friends learn unsettling revelations about Cain McLeod\u2019s past. (Real) author Gentill plays the gradual erosion of trust nicely. Nor is the killing finished. McLeod seems to be the police\u2019s top suspect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The relationships among the friends are well developed, and, as Freddie gradually falls in love with McLeod, you hope she\u2019s not getting in over her head. Not only is there the risk that he\u2019s not whom he pretends to be, as Marigold warns her, there\u2019s also the inconvenient fact that the police are watching his every move. Her proximity may put her on their radar too. Not until she and McLeod visit an Aussie bar does she recognize how hard she\u2019s been trying to fit in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is a very readable book, with a strong sense of menace generated by Leo\u2019s correspondence. I enjoyed it!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Order here from Amazon<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When you read this latest psychological thriller by Sulari Gentill, The Woman in the Library, you may need to stop every so often and think, where am I? Its clever plot is like a set of nesting boxes, and you … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"The secrets you find in books--including those just being written!","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[52,3,126,359,32],"tags":[520,1998,1999],"class_list":["post-9867","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-crime","category-mystery","category-reading-2","category-review","category-thriller","tag-boston","tag-sulari-gentill","tag-the-woman-in-the-library"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2NkiT-2z9","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vweisfeld.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9867","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vweisfeld.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vweisfeld.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vweisfeld.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vweisfeld.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9867"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/vweisfeld.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9867\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9869,"href":"https:\/\/vweisfeld.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9867\/revisions\/9869"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vweisfeld.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9867"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vweisfeld.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9867"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vweisfeld.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9867"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}