Jackie "the Librarian"'s Reviews > A Sudden Light

Oh, dear. This book was a mess. While I liked the underlying message about the importance of conservation, and the interconnectedness of everything, this unconvincing ghost story did not satisfy.
This is an attempt at a grandiose multigenerational story of guilt. Guilt over acquiring a timber fortune through ruthlessness, guilt over parental failings, guilt over unkept promises. But the transitions to the different eras are clunky, and the narration jarringly switches from the voice of our narrator at 14 to a later incarnation without warning.
I was also put off by the lack of coherence of the character of Aunt Serena, and overly sexual descriptions of both her and Trevor’s mother, Rachel. I guess this was meant to convey the 14-year-old mindset, but it felt overdone on Serena’s part, and weird in Rachel’s. The term “male gaze” leapt to mind. These women were not fully rounded characters, and the absence of motive for Serena’s actions is both misogynistic, and poor storytelling.
And, the ending was telegraphed.
Disappointing.