Raven Stole the Moon – Garth Stein
Friday, March 5th, 2010
|
|
|
|
Paperback: 464 pages
Publisher: Harper Paperbacks (March 9, 2010) Language: English ISBN-10: 0061806382 ISBN-13: 978-0061806384
|
Order from here:
|
 |
|
Jenna and Robert Rosen were a happy couple. Two years ago though, their 5 year old son Bobby drowned on a fishing trip to Alaska. There have always been questions, no body was ever found. This all happened at The Thunder Bay Resort near Wrangell Alaska. When the resort was first built, David Livingstone, a Tlingit Shaman had been hired to feel the property so to speak. His report was that there were spirits on the land called Kushtaka, and they wouldn’t leave, so the investors would be better off finding other property. John Ferguson, the man in charge of securing the property though, goes ahead with the project. Jenna is now on a search to discover what exactly happened with her son, and try to put the past behind her.
I liked this book. The author peppered in Tlingit theologies and stories while relating the story of Jenna Rosen. Jenna is a pretty tragic character. Due to her son’s death, she’s abused Valium and Alcohol. Her husband, is a mixed bag of a character. There are times I truly felt for him, and others where I didn’t like him at all. Sometimes he just seemed rather controlling and acted more like he had ownership over Jenna, than a marriage. Her parents are a bit on the domineering side as well.
David Livingstone was a character I liked. You could feel his respect for his people’s beliefs, cultures, and for the shamanic rituals. John Ferguson on the other hand, seems like your typical corporate type. He seems greedy, manipulative, and at times seems as if he wants to exploit the Tlingit culture as a way to sell condo spaces.
Throughout the book, you can see people change, and evolve. Some of the characters I didn’t like at first, I learned to understand and sympathize with. That made the book pretty true to life for me. I think anyone would enjoy this book. There was some use of profanity. I think women in particular would be able to relate to Jenna. I felt for her for the relationship she felt she was stuck in. From the opening chapters: She’s getting ready for a party, when her husband looks at her and ask “Is that what you’re wearing?”. When Jenna takes off and leaves Robert behind and heads to Alaska, I couldn’t blame her at all.
This isn’t however just a work of fiction. It has Tlingit theological information, some fantasy aspects, some fairly intense moments. Overall, I’m very glad I got the chance to read it. It was originally released in 1999, but is being re-released with a new cover and new ISBN number.
*Disclaimer* A review copy of this book was provided by Sarah at Terra Communications. Thanks go to her for this book. It didn’t affect my review in any way.
Sarah and Terra Communications have been generous enough to provide one giveaway copy of this book to a luck reader. Here are the rules:
1) One Entry if you’re a follower [You can follow through Google Friend connect to the right, you can also sign up to follow through Twitter or Facebook].
2) An Additonal Entry if you blog about this contest.
3) An Additonal Entry if you’re a new follower.
4) One entry each for posting on facebook and/or twitter.
5) Must leave a comment letting me know how you follow me, blog link to this post, facebook/twitter link, etc.
6) Contest will continue until March 11, 2010.
7) This giveaway is open to residents of US and Canada. No PO Box addresses (street mailing only).
You can discuss it here or leave a comment to enter the giveaway.
Like
