Saturday, January 13, 2007
The Lady and the Unicorn
Tracy Chevalier continues to amaze me with her unique writing style. The Lady and the Unicorn is reminiscent to Girl with Pearl Earring. The story centers around a work of art, and like Girl with Pearl Earring, she weaves a tale about how those involved with the work of art were forever affected. Perhaps at times, it was a bit too reminiscent, but Ms. Chevalier has proven herself capable of writing well, the semblance between the books does not detract.
Tracy Chevalier includes parts of history that many writers shy from, such as toothaches, body odors and a true representation of how women were treated and acted during earlier times.
Throughout the book three distinct sets of people were followed—the family who commissioned the tapestry, the artist and merchant overseeing the commission, and the family of weavers who wove it.
There was only one set of characters I wished to spend time with. The other's, were I to meet them in real life, were people I'd decline a continued acquaintance with. The weaver's story absorbed me into the story. The blind girl's dilemma of trying to stay useful enough so that her parents wouldn't marry her to an inbred man who always smelled of sheep's urine (as it was used in dying material blue,) held my interest. Otherwise, there would not have been a character I could have clung to and rooted for.
Yet, this is one of the charms of Tracy Chevalier's writing. One feels as though she's dropped her readers in the life of real people, as they would have been. Not as they should be. Not as we imagine ourselves to be. Not as we imagine how we would act were we to step back into history.
Labels: Recommended -- 4 Stars
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