Book Thoughts: Sleeping Embers of an Ordinary Mind: A Novel by Anne Charnock

Sleeping Embers of an Ordinary Mind: A Novel by Anne Charnock
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Got this book through Amazon's Kindle First program, where it's genre was listed as "experimental fiction." Not knowing what that meant, and not sure about any of the other books, I gave this book a try. Ultimately, I'm glad I did because I enjoyed reading the book, even if it left me a bit disappointed in the end.

The book centers on three primary story arcs - in 15th century Italy with the painter Paulo Uccello and his family, particularly his daughter Antonia; in the present day in China and London with a copyist and his daughter, on the heels of a family tragedy; and in the 22nd century in London with two sisters, one of who is an art historian. The book, in structural style, reminds me of Colum McCann's "Transatlantic," in that the story arcs are very loosely tied, almost to the point where you feel you are reading three different longer short stories. The sole link, as far as could tell in my reading, is that a Paulo Uccelo's is being commissioned and copied by the 21 century copyist, and a work uncovered in the 22nd century by the art historian may be the unknown work of Antonia Uccelo, who never got credit because of her gender and the prejudices of the time. Thus, the book likes an overarching narrative to tie everything together; which isn't a problem per se, its just good to understand that prior to reading - this is a book to read about characters, not for a plot.

The drawback to the book for me is that it feels unfinished. In a sense, the 14th century story line reached a conclusion, but the other two story lines, particularly the 22nd century, felt like they just stopped. The author did such a good job in creating and developing characters that you wanted to learn and know about as a reader, that the ending of the book leaving so many different questions unresolved felt more abrupt than usual. Thus, the book's ending is made worse, so to speak, by the fact that the characters were so interestingly cultivated in the earlier pages.

In any event, I did enjoy reading the book, and thought it well-written, well-paced, with interesting characters and questions. I just wish the book was a little longer so we could have more time with those characters, have some questions resolved, and have a bit more closure at the end. As such, it left me feeling somewhat confused and disappointed in what was an enjoyable reading experience.


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