nomadreader

The basics: The Lantern  is the story of Eve, a British freelance translator, and Dom, a musician, who are also a new couple who fell hard and fast in love and move to a crumbling home in Provence. It's also the story of Benedictine, who grew up in the same house. Her voice alternates chapters with Eve's. My thoughts: From the beginning, I enjoyed Lawrenson's writing immensely. Although The Lantern  was a relatively fast read, it is also a smart, gothic tale. I was most enchanted with the way Lawrenson wove in Eve's love of reading. Their was romance to it: wouldn't any of us jump at the chance to work as we wished, not worry about money, read all day and live in Provence? The books begins as a reader's escape, but it moves into deeper territory as Eve ponders her lot in life more and more: "Change is not always visible, as the turn of the season is, or the natural process of aging. We are so many different people in one lifetime." As a reade...