 
|
 |
|
|
|
MICAELA'S FAVORITE
Henry Holt, $25.00
THE SILVER SWAN is a novel that reads like poetry. The prose is lovely and the narrative seamless. 1950s Dublin serves as backdrop for the mystery in which a beautiful, young girl drowns. The question of suicide is anathema to her husband, Billy, as well as her family. And so Billy seeks help from an old school acquaintance, Quirke who is a pathologist. Billy requests that there be no autopsy. We move forward with Quirke's own story [and demons] along with his investigation as we move backward in time to learn about Billy's dead wife, Deirdre, also known as Laura Swan. Quirke is irascible, but completely empathic when it comes to aching for those in pain. What he cannot fathom in the emotions that drive human beings deprives him of perspective in assessing the actions surrounding Deirdre's death. The character's experience in this novel becomes that of the reader's, and it is riveting.
