Only With the Heart

Rating:
Summary: Not for Everyone
Review: This book was definitely not written for the mass market, so if you are looking for a traditional style novel, think twice before you read this one.

Like the Kommandant's Mistress, the writing style is troubling, for it is much like our minds probably are, with just a little editing. The book is divided into three sections - one is from the view of a woman (Claudia) who ends up on trial for the murder (assisted suicide) of her mother-in-law (Eleanor), who had Alzheimer's. The second section is from Eleanor's viewpoint. The final section is told from the viewpoint of the Sam, son of the dead woman, as Claudia stands trial.

Szeman gives us the story from different perspectives, something not unusual at all. However, as in her first novel (The Kommandant's Mistress), the thoughts shared by each person are from minds left somewhat unattended. In the same paragraph, one sentence or thought will lead to something else from different moments in the past, then back again to the present. You cannot read this book without paying attention, or you will become lost.

In addition, each person has a different view of people and events. Each strongly believes their own story to be the correct one. Of course, nothing in real life (unlike most movies and novels) is clear, cluttered (unencumbered by sanity, as the old saying goes). No renditions of an event, by more than one person, is ever definite, in absolute agreement, untainted by egos or one-sided perceptions. In this book, events and memories are misty, conflicting, unsettling.

Most disturbing to me was Eleanor's section, as it shifted from the muddled murmuring of an Alzheimer sufferer, gradually moving back in time until she is the wonderful woman she once was, with a close relationship with her daughter-in-law.

You will never know for sure if there was an assisted suicide, and if so, who was the helper. Szeman said in a recent interview that readers are split down the middle. If you like a straight-forward who-dun-it, smooth and clear and easy to read, you may not enjoy this book. It truly has an unconventional style, and the read is not relaxing.

On the day the book officially went into the bookstores, it was already in its second printing - obviously it is speaking to many, so if you are a reader of fine literature, and a supporter of new and emerging authors, you might want to give this one a read!