Books

The Effects of Light
by Miranda Beverly-Whittemore

So I've finished a few books recently. One of which is the book you see pictured here. I was perusing the shelves at the Dollar Store and saw this novel sitting there just begging me to buy it. I liked the cover so I did. For only a dollar I suppose it wasn't that bad. Since I'm too lazy to type up my own synopsis, I'm going to take a review from this broad on Bookreporter.com.

For more than a decade, Myla Rose Wolfe has been living under an assumed name. As Kate Scott, a medieval literature professor at a small, secluded East Coast college, she is free of the scandal associated with her family. But when she receives a package from a lawyer who's acting on behalf of an anonymous client, she realizes that no matter how far she runs, or how many details she fabricates about her life, she can't outrun her past. She heads home to Portland, Oregon, to relive the event that changed her family forever --- and to once again become Myla Wolfe.

In the first few pages of the book readers learn that Myla's father and 13-year-old sister, Pru, died within months of one another thirteen years ago, sending Myla into a tailspin of grief. The question of how they died is part of what fuels the narrative, and Beverly-Whittemore keeps the suspense heightened by parsing out details about what happened.

As children, Myla and Pru posed for family friend and photographer Ruth Handel. The photos --- taken over a period of ten years and some of which depict the young girls naked --- generated a national controversy about exploitation versus art. Myla and Pru's father, a brilliant, widowed college professor, was determined to instill in his daughters a sense of independence, and he allowed them to choose whether or not they wanted to be in Ruth's photographs. To the surprise of Myla and Pru, who enjoyed posing for the photographs and the sense of artistic accomplishment it gave them, the photos were viewed by some as child pornography.

So, I have to disagree with the reviewer Shannon on a few things. Sure it seemed all suspenseful and stuff at first, but the end of the book was kind of a let down. I expected something bigger with all the "heightened suspense." It basically led to nothing and I was even a little bit bored at times. At the end of the review Shannon also said the book was "enlightening." Uh, no, not so much enlightening. I mean, the book didn't change my life or anything. It was kind of like a show you'd watch on Lifetime. Although, I have to admit the author did use some stunning visual language at times. Several of the paragraphs were very well written and in some cases, the wording she chose was beautiful and simply perfect and poetic. If it wasn't for those times, I wouldn't have finished the book.