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Fool's Journey (2000)

by Mary Chase Comstock(Favorite Author)

3.57 of 5 Votes: 1

languge

English

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review 1: "Disassociate yourself from money, and few bothered with you." Such is the lesson and strategy of the deeply private Deirdre Kildeer, an heiress with good reasons to want to be left alone. Hiding in plain sight as a university English professor under an assumed name, Deirdre felt she had escaped the past until a fateful day in Seattle's Pike Place Market when an unseen stranger cut off a strand of her hair, cutting open the wounds of the past at the same time. The resulting book is a tight thriller that keeps you on edge until the last very last page. I ended up reading this in two sittings in order to find out the ending.Mary Chase Comstock writes with a great deal of understanding about group dynamics, especially those groups where the ethical mean is not a composite of ... morethe individuals in a group--be it a business, a university department, or a family--but is instead entirely set, for better or worse, by the character of a single member. If you've ever changed jobs or careers out of disgust at the group dynamics around you, you'll appreciate Comstock's insights. Her villains are so plausible, familiar, and vile, you wish you could reach into the book and throttle them yourself; or at least, send help for the heroine. Highly recommended!
review 2: As a modern day depiction of Lizzie Borden, Deirdre Kildeer has spent her life running and hiding from the events of her childhood. She shot her abusive father when she was 13 years old, saving her mother from death at his hand. Now she’s living in the old servants’ quarters of a Queen Anne mansion-made-apartment building, making great strides in the recognition of her poetry, and is teaching at a local university. Then mysterious events begin to spiral out of control, leaving Deirdre terrified and unsure. She has the support and help of her spiritual cleaning lady, Rosa Ruiz, and Rosa’s detective/law student son, Manny. But will she come to the bottom of things before her background publicly alters the quiet life she’s worked so hard to build? Or will she become fodder for a fake poet’s scheme to steal her work and drive her to insanity and death?With its twists, unique idea and gripping story, The Fool’s Journey is an exciting and fun read. Plot: Mary does a great job of transitioning the story from one scene to the next, and I really enjoyed the originality of the plot. The book follows a comfortable rhythm and reaches its climax at just the right moment. The story could have been deeper and more developed, but it all flows well enough to keep the reader on track and interested. Characters: I was a little disappointed in the character development with The Fool’s Journey. I felt that Deirdre could have used a lot more depth, particularly in explaining where she’s been since her father’s death and why certain events frighten her so much (they are definitely creepy things, don’t get me wrong, but it doesn’t quite explain why Deirdre nearly faints of fear when they happen). Other characters could have used more development and personality as well. Setting: Seattle is gray and rainy, and Mary definitely portrays that in the book, but not to the extent that a local reader would be put off. She does an excellent job of setting the scene for a rainy day without making the reader bored, and her descriptions are natural and easy to visualize. Originality: I’m going to start by saying that this was a very unique idea. Although Mary may have developed the story more for my taste, her combination of a poet’s life and struggles with the creepy Lizzie Borden story was a completely new one to my knowledge. The Fool’s Journey receives a total of four stars, and I really appreciated this book. Although the biggest thing that I think it needs is more story and character development, the book is a solid and smooth read, and kept me on the edge of my seat waiting to discover what would happen next. less

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