Second Time Around

One of my reading pet peeves—and I have several—is reading a sequel before reading its predecessor. For a few well-written novels, this doesn't matter all that much. But for most others, it ruins the fictional flow and jars the mind. Most authors vaguely allude to what happened before, so that when I do take the time to go back and read the first, it's ruined because I already know what's going to happen in the second. This is defintely a book bummer. I admit, though, that it is mostly my fault for not doing the research to discover the first book in the first place.

In the case of The Lost Prince¹ by Selden Edwards, I was flummoxed because the author wrongly assumed that The Little Book: A Novel, his first in the series (I fear that a third novel in the sequence is in progress), had been previously read. Wrong! I was asked to review The Lost Prince by AuthorExposure.com, whose editors were kind enough to send me an advanced copy prior to its publication on August 16th. Well, the day I received the paperback, I immediately delved into it. Halfway through the first chapter, I had the sense that something was missing. A bit of research revealed that that something was the foreknowledge of the main protagonist’s adventures in Vienna prior to the continuation of her story; plot lines and characters which would have cleared up the confusing read for the first few chapters. It took me a while to readjust, understand what was going on, and settle into the novel. And so, after two weeks worth of wading in Edward's world, here is the review² I finally wrote:

While The Lost Prince by Seldon Edwards is an interesting novel with an intriguing plot, it is, in many respects, implausible. Eleanor “Weezie” Burden, a scion of Boston society at the turn of the last century, uses a small journal—the focal point of Edwards’ first novel, The Little Book, of which this is the sequel—to secretly amass a large fortune, foster large corporations, influence the outcome of historical events, and rescue her son’s future teacher from the ravages of war. She accomplishes all these with her aide, Will Honeycutt, and through intimate relationships with Carl Jung, William James, Sigmund Freud, and Gustav and Alma Mahler. The concept that a woman, even one as “connected”, brilliantly talented, and steadfast as Eleanor, would be close to and influence these prominent personages and also be the prime mover of world events during an era of patriarchal dominance is, to me, a bit far-fetched.

 Our clearly defined heroine is a larger-than-life over-the-top pip of a stiff, strong-willed protagonist, with a large, smugly self-assured ego, and calculating self-will. In total control of her own life, she controls others, through clipped and often forced dialogue, to fulfill her “role and ambitions” and help her search for Arnauld Esterhazy—the lost prince. She is almost out of touch with and out of place in the life and times depicted in this 434-page odyssey that rambles through the tremulous era of World War I.

But, don’t get me wrong. I really did enjoy reading this book. Edwards is a fluid, straight-forward writer who instantly captivates the reader with juicy descriptions, historical facts, and fictionalized real-life figures who form the background of Eleanor’s many adventures throughout her life…and times. For this is not only an historical novel of some literary merit, but is also a somewhat scholarly venture into the genre of time-travel. Since I did not read the first novel of this saga, I did not expect this surprising sub-plot twist, which added more explanatory intrigue along with a few technical glitches and questions which went annoyingly unanswered. For example, prior to marriage, Eleanor, in Vienna during the 1890s, falls in love with a young man from 1988, who gives her the prophetic journal. The incestuous inference that he is a future relative was jarring. But, then again, given Eleanor’s proclivities… Then there is the questionable significance of Eleanor’s true relationship with the prince—a romantic aspect that could have been more meaningful had he been more demonstrative and she less manipulative.

All in all, however, The Lost Prince was a fairly engrossing, albeit slow, plodding read that took me nearly two weeks of steady pacing to absorb the imaginative plotline, character analyzes, and historical references. I often had to stop to research Mahler’s music, relearn the principles of Jungian psychological, and recall some of William James’ work—all of which I found necessary for the mature reader to thoroughly understand and benefit from all the subtle nuances of this comparatively creative and ingeniously written novel.

Unfortunately, though, once I read and reviewed The Lost Prince, I really had no desire nor inclination to go back and read The Little Book: A Novel. It would have been to me just too much redundancy. And, as most of you know, I am not one for going around the same plot lines a second time.

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¹ Resources for this review were made possible by AuthorsExposure.com. Incidentally, this book review site, dedicated to emerging authors, is on hiatus for a month or so. I’ll post an alert on this Blog to let you know when reviews are being posted again.

² © 2012 by Selden Edwards. 434-pgs; ppbk, ARC edition. Penguin Group, New York, NY.