As Dog is my witness (Lorelei's Secret - Carolyn Parkhurst)

Member Name: kirstymack80

Product:	Lorelei's Secret - Carolyn Parkhurst
Date:	26/09/05 (182 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: quick to read, excellent debut novel

Disadvantages: disturbing in parts

There were three of them - Paul, Lexy and Lorelei. A perfect family that is hit by tragedy as Lexy falls to her death from the apple tree in the back yard. The only witness is Lorelei - the dog.

Broken hearted, Paul is determined to find out how - and why - Lexy died. Lorelei saw Lexy throughout her days and nights. Paul thinks she must know something. There's a secret and he must do whatever he can to unlock that knowledge.

So begins the painstaking task of teaching his dog to 'talk'.

Told from Paul's point of view, this is a love story about how he finds his one true love, then loses her. It's a story of companionship. And of one man and his dog.

* What I liked *

Firstly, this is a woman writing from a man's perspective. It's unashamedly romantic in parts without being over the top or sickly. The relationship starts when Paul is thirty-nine, he's 'eight or nine' years older than Lexy and he's been married before. He's a linguist. Lexy makes masks for a living. She's the free spirited one, the spontaneous gal that takes him to Disney World on a four day first date. He's the sensible one who doesn't know he wants adventure and excitement until he meets Lexy.

Although this is essentially a story of loss, there are moments of humour. Of course on hearing Paul's plan for his dog, his colleagues think it terribly funny to email him jokes about talking dogs (you know, those 'A dog goes into a bar' type things!).

'I notice a scrap of pink paper that has, apparently, been slid under the door. I pick it up. It's a While You Were Out slip. Scrawled across the top it says, 'Your dog called'. In the message space below, there are two words, 'Woof, woof'. I crumple up the note and throw it away.'

Paul's canine studies lead him to a criminal, someone who has contact with a bizarre animal mutilation cult and suddenly Lorelei is under threat. Paul realises his 'work' has put his pet at risk and he stands to lose everything.

There are two halves to the story. There's the section that deals in the past with the blossoming romance between Paul and Lexy and there's the present part with Paul and Lorelei. The reader knows that these will link up at some point but throughout the book it's fun to watch how the couple met and how Lorelei fitted in with them.

This is part love story and part mystery. The clues are tantalisingly laid before us and it's up to the reader to piece them together.

Not everything is always rosy for the couple. Paul sees Lexy's rages, when nothing he says can make her feel better. Her frustration is evident. She gets upset over trivial matters and often becomes abusive. She is painted as a strong character, impulsive, creative and unpredictable. And yet, as a reader, I felt as if I didn't really 'know' her. What is she thinking? Why does she analyse everything and make anything Paul says seem unreasonable?

'I remember my wife in white. I remember her walking toward me on our wedding day, a bouquet of red flowers in her hand, and I remember her turning away from me in anger, her body stiff as a stone'.

Lexy's highs and lows weigh heavily on Paul as he tries to come to terms with her death.

* Verdict *

If I told you this book was about a man trying to teach his dog to talk so that he could find out how his wife died, that wouldn't be anywhere near the whole complex truth. This is an unbelievably moving novel with painful emotions experienced by the characters being thrown at you. I was quite carried away - it was unlike anything else I have ever read.

We witness Paul's falling apart, the squalor he lives in, his desperate attempts to teach Lorelei the gift of language and his hopeful phone calls to a psychic that may give him a lead to Lexy.

However, it is also a story of hope and moving on. The relationship between Paul and Lexy is frighteningly realistic which makes their separation sad and unnecessary.

I read this in two days. From page one this is hugely gripping and told in a gentle and clever way.

Creatively written, a story of love and language, sorrow and despair.

Five stars and a hearty recommendation.

* About the author *

Carolyn Parkhurst's fiction has been published in several US literary journals but this is her first novel. She lives in Washington DC.

* Other info *

ISBN 0-340-82793-9

RRP £6.99 (I found it in a charity shop for £2)
play.com £5.49 (free delivery)

279 pages

Published in the USA as The Dogs of Babel

Thanks for reading.

Summary: Why did Lexy die? Only Lorelei can 'tell' ...