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    The Lantern: A Novel
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    The Lantern: A Novel
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    The Lantern: A Novel
    Ebook422 pages7 hours

    The Lantern: A Novel

    By Deborah Lawrenson

    3.5/5

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    About this ebook

    “A whirlwind love affair, a wife who dies under mysterious circumstances, and a string of murder—and ghosts!—all set in a crumbling countryside estate in Provence. This haunting tale is everything you could want in a Gothic mystery that doesn’t also include a heroine named Jane Eyre.” — Redbook

    Set in the lush countryside of Provence, Deborah Lawrenson’s The Lantern is an atmospheric modern gothic tale of love, suspicion, and murder, in the tradition of Daphne du Maurier's Rebecca.

    Drawn to a confident and artistic wealthy older man she barely knows, bookish Eve recklessly embarks on a whirlwind affair that soon offers a new life and a new home—Les Genévriers, a charming yet decaying hamlet nestled amid the fragrant lavender fields of Provence.

    But with autumn’s arrival the days begin to cool—and so, too, does Dom. Though Eve knows he bears the emotional scars of a failed marriage—which he refuses to talk about—his silence arouses suspicion and uncertainty. And, like its owner, Les Genévriers is also changing. Bright, warm rooms have turned cold and uninviting; shadows now fall unexpectedly; and Eve senses a presence moving through the garden. Is it a ghost from the past—or a manifestation of her current troubles with Dom? Can she trust Dom—or could her life truly be in danger?

    An evocative tale of romantic and psychological suspense, The Lantern masterfully melds past and present, secrets and lies, appearances and disappearances—along with our age-old fear of the dark.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperCollins
    Release dateAug 9, 2011
    ISBN9780062049711
    Author

    Deborah Lawrenson

    Deborah Lawrenson studied English at Cambridge University and worked as a journalist in London. She is married with a daughter, and lives in Kent, England. Deborah’s previous novels include The Lantern and The Sea Garden.

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    Reviews for The Lantern

    3.5/5

    213 ratings42 reviews

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    • 4/5
      A gothic novel set in Provence that mirrors du Maurier's Rebecca. This first-time author is a master at writing vivid descriptions of the sights and smells of Provence thru all four seasons. There are two alternating narrators, both with compelling stories that intertwine. There are 2 nasty animal abuse scenes I did not read, but they were true to character development, just skip them. There is some fun decorating/renovating stuff that I loved to ice the cake.
    • 2/5
      I should have stopped reading this book after I got to page 100 and was already irritated with it. The animal cruelty didn't need to happen, except that maybe it was showing that Pierre really was capable of murder. The thing that really ticked me off about this book and it ticks me off with EVERY book that does this. There were technically two stories in this book. One in the present and one in the past by over 50 years. While reading, you didn't know the story had switched, you didn't know who the voice was from since it was all written in the first person and you didn't know which person was talking. The chapters were really short so when you were getting used to one narrator a different one popped up. I want to be absorbed into the story, not work at figuring out who the narrator is. Start the chapter with a name or something to let the reader know. Some people will enjoy this book so because of that I gave it 2 stars. But I wish I hadn't wasted my time on it. I did like the cover artwork.
    • 4/5
      Rating: 3.875* of fiveThe Book Report: Nameless Narratrix tells us the tale of woe of loving a man who did Something Awful. She tells us this while living in his Provencal hameau, which is haunted by some dead French people as well as a few living ones. The hameau is crumbling, with plaster and masonry all falling at random times and in random places. The house gives the new couple a gift or two, including an old iron lantern that figures into the sad life story of the last French proprietrix of the hameau. (Have you gone and looked up hameau yet, so I can stop typing the itals?)There's an absent, though not known to be dead, wife; there's a tale of Love Gone Wrong; there's a lot of carryins-on about people disappearin' right left and through the middle for at least 40 years; there's misunderstanding piled onto miscommunication via idiotic refusals to ask or answer simple, direct, interrogative English-language sentences.My Review: It's [Rebecca] meets [The Horseman on the Roof] set in modern times. I found it unspooky in the extreme. I also found it lushly beautifully crafted, line by line. It's gloriously good at evoking Provence, its people, and its tourist-based economy that replaced actual work producing actual, tangible objects. And it should be read with a glass of young and hearty red wine, a plate of orange-butter-herbes-de-Provence Christmas cookies, and a lover of one's preferred configuration at the ready to sate the appetites the book will awake.
    • 3/5
      I didn't like this as much as I wanted to.
    • 4/5
      When Eve falls for the secretive, charming Dom, their whirlwind relationship leads them to purchase Les Genevriers, an abandoned house in a rural hamlet in the south of France. As the beautiful Provence summer turns to autumn, Eve finds it impossible to ignore the mysteries that haunt both her lover and the run-down old house, in particular the mysterious disappearance of his beautiful first wife, Rachel. Whilst Eve tries to untangle the secrets surrounding Rachel's last recorded days, Les Genevriers itself seems to come alive. As strange events begin to occur with frightening regularity, Eve's voice becomes intertwined with that of Benedicte Lincel, a girl who lived in the house decades before. As the tangled skeins of the house's history begin to unravel, the tension grows between Dom and Eve. In a page-turning race, Eve must fight to discover the fates of both Benedicte and Rachel, before Les Genevriers' dark history has a chance to repeat itself.My Thoughts:This book was a pleasure to read. It is the type of comfort book that I love to get right deep into and curl up. Dark old rambling houses, family secrets and twists and turns.I did find myself being reminded of ‘Rebecca’ when I was reading this book and as part of it was very similar. Just like in’Rebecca’ we never find out the narrator’s real name, just that Dom called her Eve. Also there is a former wife who we never meet but is strong character in the book. Sometimes I think we have a lot to thank ‘Rebecca’ for.A duel story that does come together at the end and a very pleasant read indeed. I did feel that I wanted strongly to pick up the book to see where it was going and was sorry to finish it as I was leaving the charaters behind.I highly recommend this book for the dark evenings that are now upon us. Just perfect!
    • 3/5
      A story interweaving a story of a modern couple who are having their own problems, and a narration of a story by one of the previous owners of the house in Provence that they have just brought. There are plenty of secrets - between Dom and Eve, between Marthe and her sister Benedicte. Much of the tension is about Dom being secretive about his previous wife Rachel who has disappeared off the scene. Eve keeps finding indications that Rachel has been in Provence before and Dom's refusal to talk about it just makes matters worse. Near the end of the book Eve discovers that she's pregnant. However, apart from the discovery and a little morning sickness, that's it. Eve doesnt discuss it with Dom, even when she must have been showing, it doesnt come up in the epilogue etc. which is all a little disappointing. Why mention it in the first place if it wasnt going to go anywhere? Even if it to all end happily?
    • 4/5
      I think that comparisons to Rebecca are unavoidable, there are the similarities, our heroine whose name may or may not be “Eve” is with a man who won’t talk about his ex-wife is she alive, dead or just missing, Eve needs to know but will the truth be something she can handle. Then there is the story of Benedicte her brother Pierre and her sister Marta who is a blind , they lived in the house that Eve & Dom are now living in. There are a few different mysteries going on in this book plus a bit of a ghost story.This book started out a little slow for me and really didn’t grab me until half way in, I did like the gothic feel and the reveal of all the different secrets well most of the secrets I’m still confused how the murders of the young women in the present fit in with the story.I liked this book however there was just something that didn’t quite click I can’t out my finger on it. I would however say to give it a try it is a good book if you like Daphne DuMaurier or Kate Morton give this book a try. I listened to this one on audio narrated by, Gerrianne Raphael, Kristine Ryan who are new to me and did a good job though at times the French accents got a little thick.3 ½ Stars
    • 5/5
      Rich with description, this is not a book to be rushed; it is to be slowly savored. Reading The Lantern is like being immersed in a Alfred Hitchcock movie, a psychological mystery dark with secrets and evil undercurrents. There are 2 interwoven stories being told: Dom and Eve who buy a decaying farmhouse in Provence and begin restoring it and the other is the history of the family who once lived there; as seen through the eyes of one of the daughters, Benedictine. Dom and Eve are newly in love and are content to isolate themselves on the land, enjoying each other and the quiet which gives them time to indulge their talents; his as a musician and hers as a writer. As the year progresses and their relationship deepens, Eve begins to wonder why Dom won’t share his past with her. A chance meeting with a woman in town brings another level of mystery about Dom’s past and the questionable history of the farm.The depth of the atmosphere Deborah Lawrenson created is almost a character in its self—the house as a living being. I read it at the end of the summer—during a muggy thunder and lightening storm that kept knocking out the electricity; my own experience pulling me deeply into their story and adding another layer of tension. Read an Advanced Reader Edition through Amazon Vine. Excellent 5 stars.
    • 3/5
      The LanternDeborah LawrensonI purchased, The Lantern in a rush of other acquisitions. I read it first. I confess that I read it because it was likened to Daphne Du Maurier. I love Rebecca and I feel the pull of that novel as I sit down and write about The Lantern.I was disappointed. I was disappointed in myself for buying the book because it was likened to Daphne Du Maurier. I set myself up to be disappointed. Good lesson for me actually. Read the cover and buy it or set it down and shame on the publicist for comparing writers and playing on a reader’s weak spot. I love a love story, I truly do. I love mystery, intrigue and I love a puzzle. The Lantern supplied all of that but I felt that the language was more the goal of the author than the story line’s importance. Indeed the prologue started out very inspiring but just short of its mark. “Scents,” do not “sparkle,” however they do “make time stand still.” So there was a give and take in the language or style but the story line was predictable. Perhaps we have become too dull and too exposed to the violent for any story line to grab us, to shake us to our core. I certainly appreciate this novel’s attempt and I certainly hope that the author brings more of her writing – there is promise here. A promise that perhaps skill can be pushed and that a mystery can still be produced in quiet, soft prose so that the story line itself is a rush of adrenaline, a gasp of revelation, in a quiet whisper. Not an easy undertaking but there is a start here.
    • 1/5
      I tried to get through this book, I really did. I had heard great things about it and was looking forward to reading it.But it just went so slow. I kept putting it down and picking it up again and having to reread pages. It certainly had potential but the plot just did not move. I wasn't able to engage with the characters quick enough for me to want to stay with the book despite it's slow pace. After about a month of this, I finally gave up. I hate to give up on a book unless the writing is bad but I just as if it wasn't going anywhere. I would not receommend this book.
    • 4/5
      Initially, I had some difficulty getting into this contemporary Gothic novel with its alternating story line; but soon the pieces fell into place as I settled in for an enjoyable mystery. When vacationing Eve meets the secretive and mysterious Dominic in Switzerland and their whirlwind romance leads them to purchase Les Genevriers, a secluded farmhouse near the lavender fields in the South of France countryside. Dom reluctance to marry Eve appears to be connected to the reasons behind his divorce to Rachel, his previous wife, a relationship that Dom refuses to talk about to Eve. The longer that Eve lives at the farmhouse, the more the bright sunny region is subsumed by the ever oppressing, dark and foreboding farmhouse life with Dom. Additionally, she discovers that the farmhouse was previously owned by the Lincels, a family with its own secrets and evil deeds. The setting becomes a character in its own right through the author's skilled descriptive prose.
    • 2/5
      this was a good spooky ghost story, but I'm just not the gothic, setting-orientated reader. I tend to skim large paragraphs of information, which also tends to get in the way of the author setting the mood.
    • 4/5
      Though slow to start, once The Lantern gets going it is a fabulous gothic read that lands firmly in the territory of Jane Eyre and Rebecca, but with its own rich mystery drawing on the history and life in the French countryside. Lawrenson’s luscious prose skillfully builds tension throughout the novel and her heroine, Eve, is the perfect mix of naiveté and young woman struggling to navigate a world that is just a bit too sophisticated for her to grasp.
    • 4/5
      The words are like flowers, as is perhaps appropriate in a story wherefragrance and its composition is nearly a character in and of itself. Butthere are moments of casual cruelty hidden within the flowery language. Thereis darkness, mystery and and the whispering of the ghosts of lifetimes lived and left.He called her Eve. They met in the depths of a labyrinth and that too, was appropriate,given that that their life together was wound between secrets she dared not explore. Shewas happy enough, more than happy, in fact. At least in the beginning. Before the darknessthat secrets exude began to swirl around them. She was happy before the doubts began to creep in,before the bones were uncovered in the garden.This story is a journey that begins in the distant past, and ends with a promise for the future. ITis a journey that I recommend that you take, if you like mystery touched with romance and dusted withpetals of flowers long since gone.
    • 4/5
      Sometimes the blurbs on the back do a disservice to a novel and I think that is true in this case. By comparing this book to Rebecca, I expected dark, boding, Gothic but that it not what I got. Once I got over that I realized this author is a very good writer in her own right, her descriptions and setting are amazing. Her prose and word choices were actually beautiful but distracting at times. It took awhile before one could discern the actual story and figure out who was who and when they were talking. Rather than Gothic this is more a mystery and a haunting.
    • 3/5
      This is really a 4.5 - 4.75 read for me. I found this book to be evocative and beautifully written. The author is telling two stories simultaneously but, if the reader is watching closely, the symbolism of the house and the happenings of the house is mirrored in the relationship of Dom and Eve. Dom and Eve begin a relationship seemingly on a whim. Dom buys an old homestead with hidden rooms, tunnels, and surprises that turn up here and there. Like their relationship, the couple take it all in stride and are delighted with the gifts of the house. On the other hand, there are still unexplored areas with walls blocking rooms. The home is also aging and plaster falls apart. There are stains that can't be removed and mysteries that can't be explained.Meanwhile, Dom is secretive about his past and relationships with those he has been close to. There is the mystery of the former wife, Rachel. What happened to her? Where is Dom's family? Why don't the couple have close friends or, really, any friends? Any attempt "Eve" makes to ask about his past is met with Dom's completely shutting her out and retreating to his music or another hobby. And then there is the issue of the skeletal remains that show up on the property. Small detail.Meanwhile, every other chapter is about a different character at a different time but at the same home. Benedicte is the youngest child of three, born in 1925. Her story unfolds which includes the rise and fall of farming, having tenants, her family's demise, and the appearance of ghosts. Although seemingly unrelated, both stories share many similarities as both protagonists struggle with trying to make sense of their worlds and attaching meaning to different experiences. Ultimately, I found that I am prone to find meaning and make connections. The stories were about relationships and personal perceptions. What is real is whatever we attach meaning to. Trying to make connections where none exist is what drives conspiracy theories which is fine for some. For others, accepting experiences at face value is what they do. Although it is nice to think a person and a relationship (or a place) can be a brand new start, a clean slate with no history, each person and place is complex and have hidden rooms and surprises to be discovered which just keeps the relationship interesting.And the ghostly apparitions? I'll let you decide.
    • 4/5
      Much like The Heiress was reminiscent of of Gone with the Wind and Forever Amber, The Lantern is a tribute to Rebeca and Jane Eyre. What is old becomes new again in Provence France. This is the IT book for fall. Gothic lovers enthralled with the Thirteenth Tale will find much to love here. If you have not already picked this up you may want to join in the reading group for RIP at Stainless Steel Droppings taking place for three weeks in October. The echos of ghosts real or imagined make this the atmospheric read for fall. I however, could not wait that long.The novel has two stories that run simultaneously. The first takes place in Provence France in the current time in a crumbling estate called Les Genevries. Eve has a world wind courtship with Dom and then move from England into Les Genevries. At first Eve is happy but as time goes on she feels distrustful of Dom when she begins to realize how isolated she is and that she does not really know that much about his past especially the part concerning his first wife Rachel whom he refuses to talk about. Things reach a critical level when dead bodies turn up during their pool renovation and Dom is the prime suspect. The second story also takes place at Les Genevries but in the past. Benedicte lives there with her siblings, the blind Marthe and her psychopathic brother Pierre. This is the more Gothic part of the story. Basically everything that the author can come up with is thrown at poor Benedicte, murder, incest, adultry, abortion, suicide, by the end of the story nothing will surprise you. If all those things happpened in a house, I think you would expect it to be haunted. Both stories are tied up neatly together by the end in the character of Sabine who has ties to both Benedicte and Eve.I read a lot of reviews that say this book starts off slow. It wasn't slow for me so much as confusing. The author does not come right out and say who is talking so sometimes I was left wondering if it was Benedicte or Eve though this problem did not last long as both stories quickly became clear and separate. My main problem was Dom and Eve. Every time Eve asked about Rachel, Dom would clam up or get testy and Eve would drop it. I would have never let it drop until I found out every last detail about her and if he wasn't telling I would have left long ago. It was maddening. I wanted someone to give Eve a backbone. Finally I just suspended reality in order to move past it because it was driving me crazy. For crying out aloud she could have googled her! I found Benedicte's story to be the more compelling one even if it was drama laden. The last pages of the book fly by in part because secrets are revealed and chapters are short, often only one or two pages long giving the feeling that you are speeding along. I won't give away the secret of Dom's wife but if you are familiar with Jane Eyre and Rebecca you can guess easily.I did really like this book because of my love of Jane Eyre and Rebecca. I knew I would be hooked when I read in the description the words Gothic and France. The writing is beautiful, especially the description of the plants and smells. The food wasn't too shabby either. I wanted to go out and buy something lavender after finishing this book. If you can suspend your disbelief then by all means join Eve and Benedicte by getting lost in the lavender of Provence, France this fall.
    • 5/5
      In a little Hamlet in Provence lies Les GenÉvriers, an old run- down farmhouse in the Luberon valley of Provence. When Eve met Dom she thought she met her match. Dom and Eve decide to build a future in Provence in the Luberon Valley of Southern France. At first Eve is enchanted by the cottage and surrounding farmhouse when they first purchased it from the Estate Agents and went to live in it. But soon, as summer ends, Eve discovers secrets and ghosts in the cottage...secrets that haunt her. With each day Dom begins to withdraw within himself and Eve is left on her own to ponder the strange shadows and flickering lights that emerge throughout the house and garden.Eve, an avid bookworm discovers a children's book in one of the wardrobes of the house and soon begins to delve into Le Genevries's history and previous owners....the Lincel family. When Eve and Dom meet a strange woman at a dinner party....a woman who claims to know about Dom's past and several legends surrounding Les GenÉvriers, Eve begins to question Dom....is he really the man he says he is. What became of Rachel, his first wife? Each day a new mystery unfolds and Eve is caught in a web of mystery, deceit and lies. What secrets does the house hold? Who is Benedict and Marthe?The Lantern is a well-written story about how dangerous a wild imagination can be. It is a ghost story, a romance novel, a mystery, a Crime story and a Gothic Novel rolled into one. I fell in love with the story and couldn't put it down. As the story unfolded I wanted to find out what happened to Rachel. Was she murdered? Did she vanish without a trace like Marthe Lincel? The answers to all these questions are revealed within the descriptive pages of this wonderful book. The characters are well-rounded and I identified with the character of BÉnÉdicte. I disliked the character of Pierre Lincel. I was shocked by a scene in the book where Pierre strangles a cat and quarters it before Benedict’s eyes for being betrayed by his sister when their father, discovers a revolver which Pierre had asked BÉnÉdicte to hide for him. Yet, this story is well-written and highly descriptive. I love the plot twist in the end. I commend the author for a great story.
    • 5/5
      This book is two stories intertwined. It revolves around a farm in Provence, France and a women who having found love is suddenly beset with doubts. The dark past of the farm and doubts instilled by chance meetings combine to make a combination mystery and horror story. Not Horror in the way of blood and guts but in the way of a constant feeling of suspense of a dangerous and hidden secret. The story catches you from the first and never lets you go. It was one of those books for me that I could of stayed up all night reading. The characters are well developed and real. So real that you can relate to the the main character almost immediately.
    • 5/5
      I finished reading this book a few hours ago and I am still battling the chills it brought to life. Holy smokes, this one blew me away.I’m a huge fan of Kate Morton, I loved Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier and so it was inevitable that I’d pick up The Lantern, gothic romantic mystery? Yes please!I have to say, I was intrigued enough for the first half of the book to keep reading. I, like Eve, needed to know the secrets. I was confused by the narrative but quickly got used to it and appreciated that I didn’t have to read long before going back to the other story.Then, something magical happened. I started jumping at every little noise, looking over my shoulder at the slightest breeze of air touching it and whimpering with needing to know exactly what was going on.I’ve read a lot of books with psychological torture, but I have to say - I think an event in this book about takes the cake. I won’t say anymore about it, but .. yeah, you’ll know when you read it.If you love books that just tingle with mystery, sweeping, beautiful descriptions of homes fallen into disrepair and ruin, filled with mystery, ghosts and more then The Lantern is a must-read.
    • 5/5
      Every now and again you read a book and think, wow . . . excellent writing, realistic and incredible characters, wonderful settings and a great plot. Don't get me wrong, there are great books written and read every day. But there are also plenty of good books and not so good books as well. The Lantern by Deborah Lawrenson is one of the great books.The writing is not only beautiful but beautifully evocative. Ms. Lawrenson paints pictures with words that capture the imagination and allow the reader to step inside of the story and walk alongside the characters. And we step inside the present with the story of Eve and Dom, and then we step into the past with Benedicte. Eve is a French to English translator. She falls in love with Dom and they relocate from the UK to France, pastoral northern France. Dom is, apparently, independently wealthy and they purchase and rehabilitate a farmhouse. Benedicte was born and raised in this farmhouse and the reader is invited to see the past through her story and memories. Eve isn't exactly naive but she does have a certain sense of naïveté about her, especially when it comes to Dom. She has the sense that something from his past is haunting his present and that it most likely is related to his ex-wife, Rachel. It doesn't help that the local realtor evidently met Rachel and suspects that something untoward happened to her. Her fears overshadow Eve's love and longing to build a life with Dom. Benedicte is a typical farm girl. Although she longs for more, she knows that she must stay to help her family, especially since her older sister is blind and no longer living at home and their brother cannot be relied upon to help out. Over the years Benedicte has worked the land and kept up the farm/estate as best as she can but she has also suffered major disappointments (hopes for a career that never came to fruition and a lover that . . . disappointed her). In her old age, she reminisces and fears that she is losing her mind as ghostly visages torment her. She questions what really happened to her sister and why has she deserted her? The Lantern is filled with psychological horror that gradually builds throughout the story. The reader and characters begin to question what is and isn't real, and suspect what has and hasn't happened to people from the past. As I've previously stated, the writing is truly beautiful and captures the reader from beginning to end. If you can appreciate beautiful prose, great scenery, and credible characters accompanied by subtle psychological horror, then The Lantern is just the book for you.
    • 4/5
      Eve fell for mysterious and secretive Dom in a whirlwind romance in France. They buy an old, crumbling farm called Les Genévriers. At first all is well. Dom is happy playing and writing music and Eve is happy reading and writing. The idyllic summer passes and winter comes with strange happenings and dark mysteries. Dom’s previous wife vanished and Dom refuses to talk about her at all, leading Eve to assume the worst and try to uncover the truth. The strange happenings increase in frequency, creating even more tension between Dom and Eve. The past of Les Genévriers is also entwined in the mystery. Eve must figure out both Rachel’s fate and the fate of the previous inhabitants to before the same fate befalls her and Dom.The Lantern is a beautifully written story. The lyrical descriptions and the historical setting really drew me in. I was engaged in the story very quickly. The setting in the French countryside is absolutely beautiful and creates a unique atmosphere for this modern gothic tale. The story is told in alternating points of view from Eve in modern times and Benedicte in the past. Both tales are interesting and have their own mysteries to sort out. Eve needs to find out about Dom’s secrets. Benedicte’s problems don’t become apparent until pretty late into the book. Her narrative jumps around in time and covers her childhood to old age. Her family goes through misfortune after misfortune from her father’s death to her abusive brother leeching off the family to her sister going blind. The stories subtly intersect with some objects and small events until the end when the two stories connect in a significant way. Benedicte and Eve are both compelling characters that I enjoyed following throughout the novel.I did have a few problems with the book. The chapters aren’t labeled, so if I had put down the book and picked it up, I would be confused for a while until I figured out which chapter I was in. The story moves very slowly in some parts. Even though the language is beautiful, it gets a little tedious when nothing is really happening. Dom wasn’t really likeable or fleshed out. One of the big problems was just his refusal to tell Eve anything about his past. It seems kind of ridiculous in a modern setting for him to be so obstinate when his actions were obviously hurting his relationship. Even though Eve and Dom were supposed to be in love, I felt it wasn’t shown in a believable way before their relationship started to break down. The plot was pretty predictable and I found the ending anticlimactic. The Lantern is a unique book that brings the gothic novel to the present. The masterful writing flows easily and creates memorable images with florid descriptions. The novel definitely has some flaws, but through it all, I was interested throughout the novel and I would read more from Deborah Lawrenson.
    • 4/5
      The best word I can think of to describe The Lantern is dreamy. It moves slowly but with dark mysterious undercurrents. The story of Les Genevriers (The Junipers), an 1887 farmhouse in Provence, is told alternately by Benedicte, a woman who lived there her whole life (and perhaps continues to live there after death) and Eve, who has come to live there with her lover, Dom. Both Eve and Dom are British; Dom buys Les Genevriers after Benedicte's death. My one complaint about The Lantern is that the point of view changes abruptly without any indication. Many times I read several paragraphs before I realized it was Eve rather than Benedicte, or vice versa. Perhaps Lawrenson thought that was clever; I found it annoying. Benedicte's story is heart wrenching. Her older sister gradually goes blind so Benedicte becomes her eyes. She goes to work in the lavender fields during the German occupation of France. Her blind sister is working at a perfume company developing new scents and wants to know everything about lavender and its distillation. But this idyllic story is underscored by the danger of living with their evil brother, as well as the nagging fear of the Nazi occupiers to the north. The other story shows Eve arriving at the house in the early throes of deep passionate love, but there are always doubts in the back of her mind. She doesn't know much about Dom, who seems to be in the grip of a mysterious memory. He isn't in touch with his family and there is the question of what became of his wife. Why won't he talk about her? Why is he so moody? They remain isolated in the house as Eve's questions and Dom's torment grow. Lawrenson's depiction of the house and gardens as well as the people of the nearby village is masterful. I could feel the atmosphere and see the house. There are sealed up rooms, strange sounds, a stain on the kitchen floor that Eve can't scrub away, and haunting scents that seem to come from the very walls of the house. I had trouble getting into this book but once I did, I was hooked. I recommend The Lantern, which is coming out in August.
    • 4/5
      From the minute I received this book I was intrigued. The marketing idea of the unique sleeve on the book draws you in. Six people who just saw the packaging asked to read this book just based on the way it was shipped.As I started reading the book I was not disappointed. The characters are well written and draw you in. Each character feels like the "main" character. Please read this book you will happy you did.
    • 4/5
      The Lantern is set in a small hillside hamlet in Provence. Eve and her lover, Dom, have come to Provence to live their dream life. They buy an old abandonded farm house and set to restoring it, with the same passion that fills their new love affair. But soon, strange things start happening in the house, and Eve is convinced Dom is playing a part. In a parallel narrative, Benedicte, the last inhabitant of the house, tells the story of her family's downfall. As the novel progresses, the women's lives become more and more intertwined. The Lantern had so much potential. It is beautifully written and set in a dark, crumbling, perfectly gothic house. The women at the center of the story are interesting, and their story unfolds in such a way that it is suspensfull. But unfortunately, the execution was lacking for me. There was the opportunity for a great gothic twist, but it wasn't taken. So disapointing to see a novel with so much potential end in such a way. The descriptions of Provencial life make this worth a read, but it does not live up to modern Gothic successes like "The House at Riverton."
    • 2/5
      A retelling of Rebecca, with a separate story intertwined. I feel as though the book would have been stronger without the subplot, and it was hard for me to sympathize with the main character.
    • 4/5
      Although Lawrenson has a heavy hand with foreshadowing, nothing is as it seems; not even the main character's name. An intriguing book.
    • 3/5
      Pretty well written, I found myself pulled into this story, only to find myself pulled out time and time again. This book had mediocre characters and, at times, the storyline seemed to jump along and become stilted. It did pick up towards the end and it did make me think throughout. All in all a pleasant read.
    • 3/5
      Dom and Eve have a whirlwind romance and end up buying a run down property in Provence called Les Genevriers. Dom is a secretive man and Eve struggles to get much out of him, including what happened to his ex-wife, Rachel. Running alongside this story is that of Benedicte Lancel, the former occupier of the property for many years, along with her family for some of that time. I think I must have missed something with this book. I was very keen to read it for a number of reasons, mainly that I liked The Art of Falling by the same author, and also because I love dual time frame novels. However, for me, the two stories were not clearly delineated and although I mostly knew whose story I was reading at any one time, I would have liked it to be made a bit clearer, maybe with a date or a different font. I was reading a proof copy, so this may well have happened in the finished version.Also, the stories meandered quite a lot, they didn't really flow and the book as a whole was overly descriptive to the point where I was crying out for some decent dialogue. It's a nice enough book, and clearly the author loves the region of Provence in France, but it kind of left me feeling that this could have been a much better book had it had a tighter pair of storylines.
    • 4/5
      The Lantern is a Gothic tale of Provence set in a looming old house complete with a moody and mysterious resident and a ghost. Eve and her boyfriend Dom purchase the atmospheric and remote Les Genevrieres, but once they move in their relationship seems to disintegrate. Dom refuses to talk about his previous marriage and becomes more and more isolated. Mysterious objects appear and disappear in the house. Then, when digging a new pool, builders find the bodies of two women on their property. Eve has no idea what relationship these bones might have to her boyfriend and his former wife, or to a college student who has recently gone missing from the area. At the same time as Eve and Dom try to live with each other and their house, the book tells the story of the house's former residents, a blind perfumier and her sister. This book is full of beautiful descriptions of Provence, both in the well-known, sunny summers that produce the lavender harvest and in the colder, more desolate winters. Lawrenson does an excellent job of creating a suitably creepy atmosphere. I enjoyed the two stories she told, though I sometimes found Eve's naivete hard to believe- buying a house with a guy who literally will not say anything about his past is probably not the best idea.