Occasionally, I finish a book and find myself struggling to describe it in a meaningful way. That was the case with The Mirrored World. I chose this book for its relatively unique setting (at least as far as historical fiction is concerned): St. Petersburg in the years immediately before Catherine the Great ascended the throne. Unfortunately, save for the occasional glimpse of the Neva or description of the Winter Palace, the city itself was a relatively minor character.
At the most basic level, Debra Dean's novel is the story of cousins Dasha and Xenia, whose families are loosely connected to the royal court, and the latter of whom eventually marries one of the court's choristers, Colonel Andrei Feodorovich. When he dies tragically, Xenia descends rapidly into madness, distributing all of her wealth and possessions to the poor, while cousin Xenia tries futilely to help her overcome her grief.
I did not realize until after I'd finished the book and begin doing a bit of research that Xenia and Andrei were, in fact, a real couple, and that she became St. Xenia (saint day: September 11), a "holy fool" beloved by the residents of her city and famous for her sense of clairvoyance. The character of Dasha, as best I can tell, is Dean's own work.
Ultimately, I felt rather ambivalent about this book. Learning of St. Xenia lends a level of interest to it, and Dean's prose is fluid and beautiful, but I just wasn't that invested in what happened to either Xenia or Dasha, and I was admittedly disappointed by the fact that St. Petersburg, which looms so large in life, was relegated to such a supporting role in this book.
No comments:
Post a Comment