Alena [Unabridged] [Audible Audio Edition] Author: | Language: English | ISBN:
B00HRA22JS | Format: PDF, EPUB
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At the Venice Biennale, an aspiring assistant curator from the Midwest meets Bernard Augustin, the wealthy, enigmatic founder of the Nauk, a cutting-edge art museum on Cape Cod. It's been two years since the tragic death of the Nauk's chief curator, Augustin's childhood friend and muse, Alena. When Augustin offers the position to our heroine (who, like du Maurier's original, remains nameless) she dives at the chance - and quickly finds herself well out of her depth.
The Nauk echoes with phantoms of the past - a past obsessively preserved by the museum's business manager and the rest of the staff. Their devotion to the memory of the charismatic Alena threatens to stifle the new curator's efforts to realize her own creative vision, and her every move mires her more deeply in artistic, erotic, and emotional entanglements.
When new evidence calls into question the circumstances of Alena's death, her loyalty, integrity, and courage are put to the test, and shattering secrets surface. Stirring and provocative, Alena is the result of a delicious visitation of one of the most popular novels of the twentieth century on a brilliant and inventive novelist of the twenty-first.
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- Audible Audio Edition
- Listening Length: 11 hours and 56 minutes
- Program Type: Audiobook
- Version: Unabridged
- Publisher: Tantor Audio
- Audible.com Release Date: January 23, 2014
- Whispersync for Voice: Ready
- Language: English
- ASIN: B00HRA22JS
It is said that imitation is the highest form of flattery. Maybe so but it also smacks of unoriginality and marked lack of creativity. The author here has patterned this novel on the gothic romance Rebecca. And sadly, it pales by comparison.
As in Rebecca, the nameless heroine is rescued from an insensitive and overbearing employer by a wealthy and cultured man. Instead of being installed as the mistress of an estate, she is named curator of a small but impressive museum in Cape Cod. It is a position she is woefully unqualified for. Her predecessor was Alena, whose mysterious disappearance triggered whispers of murder. Unfortunately for our heroine, the museum comes complete with a creepy, insubordinate staff and is still governed by the unseen hand of Alena.
for me, one of the greatest weaknesses in the book is the heroine. She is both inexcusably incompetent and weak. Rebecca's heroine was young and inexperienced but her innocence made her an attractive counterpoint to Rebecca. She eventually grows a backbone and becomes strong and confident in her relationship with her husband. She evolves and remains unspoiled by the trappings of wealth and position. Unlike Rebecca whose sophistication and beauty hide her dark heart, Alena has little allure. She seems spoiled, self-centered and a best a drama queen. Her story and demise does not cause the heart to ache and the ultimate resolution is a denouement.
The author can write, no doubt about it. But I would urge her to create, not imitate. Rebecca fans will still dream of Manderlay. Nauguasset has a long way to go.
By Antigone Walsh
VINE VOICE
I had to make a decision halfway through this novel as to whether I was going to finish it or not. I'd paid for a hardback copy so I forged ahead in order to feel that, to some degree, I'd gotten my money's worth. Frankly, I did a lot of skimming. Page after page is devoted to depicting, in excruciating detail, the colors in the ocean, the sky at sunset, the breeze through the grass, Bernard's eyes, Bernard's hair, Agnes's red earrings, Alena's old office, Alena's office decor, Alena's clothes . . . You get the idea, I hope.
I do appreciate stories that give the reader a clear idea of the surroundings but I felt the description overwhelmed the story here. I didn't need to be told how the museum on the cliff looked from every angle in various degrees of sunlight. I didn't need to be told how tall Bernard was more than a couple of times, I didn't need to be told how the waves from the ocean rise and fall on every other page. I would have preferred much more insight into the characters' motives, their psyches. But most of the characters speak as if they are writers who are dictating long, speechifying stretches of dialogue. The most genuine character is Louise but she only appears in the first quarter of the book.
I feel a little bad that I disliked this book as much as I do. I'm sure it was a labor of love and that the author invested untold amounts of time in it. It was just an epic fail for me.
By ms. tex
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