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Who recommends: Preeti, Julie, Shelley
Who discommends: Lynn, Margaret
I picked up THE JIGSAW WOMAN by Kim Antieau this past weekend, mostly because I liked the cover. Interesting surrealistic feminist story with many mythological elements. In the near(?) future, a woman named Keelie is created from the dead bodies of three others at the behest of plastic surgeon Dr. Victor Beaufort. But as she tries to figure out who these three women were, the underworld goddess Eskegren (?) gives her ruby slippers and sends her back to the memories of not only the recently deceased women, but their incarnations all the way back to the days of the cave dwellers. So as the story keeps moving back in time, we get closer and closer to the days of "paradise" when the goddess ruled the earth.
Any story like this can't help but feel preachy (yes, yes, we all know that with the end of earth-centered religions in favor of a male god, women's positions in societies deteriorated). The book felt like a message thinly disguised as a story. More of a moralistic fable than a novel. But it was fast-paced, with interesting unfolding scenarios which left you wanting to know what would happen next. And of course, I wouldn't be recommending this book if there wasn't a love story running throughout. I recommend this book, but not all that strongly. --Preeti
Bought, read once, sold. I didn't think much of this book. I felt it was trying to be meaningful but failed. The story was OK but was swamped by the message.--Margaret (09 Mar 00)
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