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Book Review: Bohjalian's `The Light in the Ruins'
By Wendy Plotkin
http://www.armenianweekly.com/2013/07/05/book-review-bohjalians-the-light-in-the-ruins/
July 5, 2013
The Light in the Ruins
By Chris Bohjalian
New York: Doubleday (July 9, 2013)
309 pages, $25.95
Chris Bohjalian's The Light in the Ruins is a taught, suspenseful
page-turner. In somewhat of a departure from his previous works,
Bohjalian's new novel is darker, even flirting with the crime fiction
genre. The novel is set at a beautiful estate in Tuscany that is
dragged into the tragedy and destruction of World War II, along with
the family that owns it, the Rosatis. From the first pages, however,
Bohjalian makes clear we are in for something different here - this will
not be a tragic war-time love story - as the novel starts with the
grisly musings of a serial killer, describing the murder he is about
to commit. Who is this madman and why is he doing this? Once the stage
is set, the novel slowly unravels the mystery of who the murderer is
and why he keeps killing. Bohjalian keeps the reader guessing
throughout, making the book difficult to put down.
978 0 385 53481 9 197x300 Book Review: Bohjalian's `The Light in the Ruins'
`The Light in the Ruins' comes out on July 9, 2013.
The novel is narrated from multiple perspectives: the nameless killer
with murderous intent, the Rosatis struggling to deal with the
violence and upheaval of World War II, and a tough female detective in
the Florence police department who is investigating the murder that
opens the novel. Light in the Ruins alternates between 1955 Florence
during the murder investigation and 1943-45 at Villa Chimera, the
Rosati family estate in Tuscany. The connections between what happened
during the war at Villa Chimera and the horrible murders of 1955 are
what propel the mystery to an eventual - and surprising - resolution.
The Rosatis are a noble Tuscan family who, in 1943, are trying to keep
their family and beautiful way of life intact despite the war that is
raging around them. At the time, the Nazi army is fully ensconced in
Italy, and the Italian people are forced into the role of wary allies
and hosts. Villa Chimera becomes an attractive target for the Nazis,
who are enamored with Italian art and history. Antonio Rosati, the
patriarch of the family, when faced with the inescapable presence of
the Nazi army chooses the path of least resistance and welcomes the
local Nazi contingent from Florence into his home. These German
officials are interested in the ancient Etruscan ruins on the property
and visit repeatedly to inspect them and enjoy the Rosati's
hospitality. Antonio's son Vittore is a soldier but spends his time
off the battlefield as a representative of the Italian military at the
Uffizi museum in Florence, assisting - and in some instances covertly
preventing - the Nazi theft of Italian masterpieces. Vittore's brother,
Marco, is a soldier bracing for an Allied invasion in Sicily. His wife
Francesca and two children live at the Villa Chimera with his parents
and sister.
Antonio's youngest daughter, Cristina, is 18 years old. She is both
pampered and innocent, stuck at the Villa because of the war. Cristina
occupies her time playing with her niece and nephew (Marco's children)
and riding her beloved horse Arabella. Her ill-fated romance with a
Nazi soldier who works with her brother becomes the focus of the story
set during the war. As the situation of the Germans in Italy
deteriorates, Cristina's romance complicates her family's fate.
The more weathered women of Villa Chimera - the marchesa, the haughty
Beatrice and her sharp-tongued sister-in-law Francesca - counter
Cristina's sweetness. It is Francesca who is the victim of the
mysterious serious killer. Shortly after the novel begins she is
found, in 1955, murdered in her apartment with her heart cut out of
her body. While once a close-knit family, 10 years later the Rosatis
have become fractured as a result of the damage done to them during
the war.
The detective assigned to the case, Serafina Bettini, is the central
and most compelling character in the novel. She fought as a partisan
during the war and was severely burned, leaving her scarred both
physically and emotionally. Serafina is a trailblazer; there are no
other women in the Florence police department, much less in the murder
squad. After Francesca is murdered, another murder soon reveals that
the former was not random and that someone is targeting the Rosati
family. Serafina is convinced that uncovering the family's wartime
past will lead to the killer. By looking backwards, however, Serafina
is forced to confront her own suppressed memories of the war and why
the family's Tuscan estate, Villa Chimera, is so familiar to her.
In Serafina, Bohjalian has perhaps created his most complex and
compelling lead character. Bohjalian does not shy away from Serafina's
darkness; the scars from the war fuel her determination rather than
make her tragic. The novel is expertly paced, and as Serafina
desperately tries to solve the murder and save the surviving members
of the Rosati family, Bohjalian also reveals the dark secrets from the
war that haunt both Serafina and the Rosatis. By tying the mystery of
the Rosatis' killer to Serafina's past, Bohjalian effortlessly turns a
work of historical fiction into a breathless whodunit. The Light in
the Ruins is arguably Bohjalian's most accomplished work to date.
Wendy Plotkin is a litigation attorney at a Boston area biotechnology
company. Her book review and cooking blog can be found at
www.bookcooker.blogspot.com. She also writes book reviews for the
Armenian Weekly.
By Wendy Plotkin
http://www.armenianweekly.com/2013/07/05/book-review-bohjalians-the-light-in-the-ruins/
July 5, 2013
The Light in the Ruins
By Chris Bohjalian
New York: Doubleday (July 9, 2013)
309 pages, $25.95
Chris Bohjalian's The Light in the Ruins is a taught, suspenseful
page-turner. In somewhat of a departure from his previous works,
Bohjalian's new novel is darker, even flirting with the crime fiction
genre. The novel is set at a beautiful estate in Tuscany that is
dragged into the tragedy and destruction of World War II, along with
the family that owns it, the Rosatis. From the first pages, however,
Bohjalian makes clear we are in for something different here - this will
not be a tragic war-time love story - as the novel starts with the
grisly musings of a serial killer, describing the murder he is about
to commit. Who is this madman and why is he doing this? Once the stage
is set, the novel slowly unravels the mystery of who the murderer is
and why he keeps killing. Bohjalian keeps the reader guessing
throughout, making the book difficult to put down.
978 0 385 53481 9 197x300 Book Review: Bohjalian's `The Light in the Ruins'
`The Light in the Ruins' comes out on July 9, 2013.
The novel is narrated from multiple perspectives: the nameless killer
with murderous intent, the Rosatis struggling to deal with the
violence and upheaval of World War II, and a tough female detective in
the Florence police department who is investigating the murder that
opens the novel. Light in the Ruins alternates between 1955 Florence
during the murder investigation and 1943-45 at Villa Chimera, the
Rosati family estate in Tuscany. The connections between what happened
during the war at Villa Chimera and the horrible murders of 1955 are
what propel the mystery to an eventual - and surprising - resolution.
The Rosatis are a noble Tuscan family who, in 1943, are trying to keep
their family and beautiful way of life intact despite the war that is
raging around them. At the time, the Nazi army is fully ensconced in
Italy, and the Italian people are forced into the role of wary allies
and hosts. Villa Chimera becomes an attractive target for the Nazis,
who are enamored with Italian art and history. Antonio Rosati, the
patriarch of the family, when faced with the inescapable presence of
the Nazi army chooses the path of least resistance and welcomes the
local Nazi contingent from Florence into his home. These German
officials are interested in the ancient Etruscan ruins on the property
and visit repeatedly to inspect them and enjoy the Rosati's
hospitality. Antonio's son Vittore is a soldier but spends his time
off the battlefield as a representative of the Italian military at the
Uffizi museum in Florence, assisting - and in some instances covertly
preventing - the Nazi theft of Italian masterpieces. Vittore's brother,
Marco, is a soldier bracing for an Allied invasion in Sicily. His wife
Francesca and two children live at the Villa Chimera with his parents
and sister.
Antonio's youngest daughter, Cristina, is 18 years old. She is both
pampered and innocent, stuck at the Villa because of the war. Cristina
occupies her time playing with her niece and nephew (Marco's children)
and riding her beloved horse Arabella. Her ill-fated romance with a
Nazi soldier who works with her brother becomes the focus of the story
set during the war. As the situation of the Germans in Italy
deteriorates, Cristina's romance complicates her family's fate.
The more weathered women of Villa Chimera - the marchesa, the haughty
Beatrice and her sharp-tongued sister-in-law Francesca - counter
Cristina's sweetness. It is Francesca who is the victim of the
mysterious serious killer. Shortly after the novel begins she is
found, in 1955, murdered in her apartment with her heart cut out of
her body. While once a close-knit family, 10 years later the Rosatis
have become fractured as a result of the damage done to them during
the war.
The detective assigned to the case, Serafina Bettini, is the central
and most compelling character in the novel. She fought as a partisan
during the war and was severely burned, leaving her scarred both
physically and emotionally. Serafina is a trailblazer; there are no
other women in the Florence police department, much less in the murder
squad. After Francesca is murdered, another murder soon reveals that
the former was not random and that someone is targeting the Rosati
family. Serafina is convinced that uncovering the family's wartime
past will lead to the killer. By looking backwards, however, Serafina
is forced to confront her own suppressed memories of the war and why
the family's Tuscan estate, Villa Chimera, is so familiar to her.
In Serafina, Bohjalian has perhaps created his most complex and
compelling lead character. Bohjalian does not shy away from Serafina's
darkness; the scars from the war fuel her determination rather than
make her tragic. The novel is expertly paced, and as Serafina
desperately tries to solve the murder and save the surviving members
of the Rosati family, Bohjalian also reveals the dark secrets from the
war that haunt both Serafina and the Rosatis. By tying the mystery of
the Rosatis' killer to Serafina's past, Bohjalian effortlessly turns a
work of historical fiction into a breathless whodunit. The Light in
the Ruins is arguably Bohjalian's most accomplished work to date.
Wendy Plotkin is a litigation attorney at a Boston area biotechnology
company. Her book review and cooking blog can be found at
www.bookcooker.blogspot.com. She also writes book reviews for the
Armenian Weekly.