Crown Publishing, April 11, 2017.
Five Stars
Before reading this novel, I knew nothing about Jennifer
Finney Boylan. While reading, I learned that she is known mostly for her
memoirs about her life as a transgender woman, and that she published under the
name James Boylan before 2001. Her work focuses on themes of gender identity
and the many ways that we can be haunted by our pasts – with that in mind, this
new novel is a natural progression from her non-fiction work.
Long Black Veil begins with a group of college friends who make the ill-fated
decision to go exploring in an abandoned prison – Philadelphia’s Eastern State
Penitentiary. They have just celebrated the wedding of two of their friends,
Wailer and Casey, and the group is in a festive mood, even as they wander
through the dark, decaying rooms of the former prison. That is, until someone
locks the doors from the outside, and tragedy strikes – one member of their
group goes missing, never to be seen again.
Twenty years later, the body of the missing friend is
discovered, hidden in the ruins of the prison as it is being excavated. Casey
becomes the prime suspect in the murder, and the only person who can clear his
name is his best friend, who went missing after the events in the prison and is
also presumed dead. In fact, Judith is living across the country in an idyllic
lake house, with a loving husband and a stepson that she has raised as her own
child. If she comes forward to defend Casey, she will have to expose shocking
secrets from her past and risk losing her family.
The novel is very confusing at first, as Boylan
introduces a large cast of quirky characters, all with pretty absurd names
(Wailer, Tripper, Falcon, to name a few). However, this confusion works to
further the mystery plot, as we don’t find out who is missing, or even who is
who, until well into the book. The shifting time lines also work to increase
the suspense. The central mystery of events at the prison is not very
convincing, but I think it is actually secondary to the aspects of character
development that make this novel special. The writing is not perfect, but it is
eclipsed by the originality of the story and the authentic thoughts and
feelings of the characters.
The twists and turns of the story might seem
predictable at first, but the main one is unexpected and unique. Ultimately
this is a story of mistaken identity – the identity of the murderer, and more
importantly, the ways that people learn to live with their own identity. The seemingly
absurd mystery plot is really just a cover for the depth of the gender identity
themes that this novel explores. Like all of us, these characters are haunted
not only by their pasts, but also by the ghosts of who they used to be.
I received this book from Crown Publishing and
NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
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