| Title | : | Long Black Veil |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 0451496329 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9780451496324 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Hardcover |
| Number of Pages | : | 304 |
| Publication | : | First published April 11, 2017 |
| Awards | : | Lambda Literary Award Transgender Fiction (2018) |
Long Black Veil is the story of Judith Carrigan, whose past is dredged up when the body of her college friend Wailer is discovered 20 years after her disappearance in Philadelphia’s notorious and abandoned Eastern State Penitentiary. Judith is the only witness who can testify to the innocence of her friend Casey, who had married Wailer only days before her death.
The only problem is that on that fateful night at the prison, Judith was a very different person from the woman she is today. In order to defend her old friend and uncover the truth of Wailer’s death, Judith must confront long-held and hard-won secrets that could cause her to lose the idyllic life she’s built for herself and her family.
Long Black Veil Reviews
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3.5 It is 1980, Casey, an obese young man who never thought he would find someone to love him, and Wailer, a pink haired young lady were just married the night before. With their college friends, an older teacher and a young boy, the brother of one, they decode to visit an abandoned penitentiary. Bad, bad decision as they will find themselves locked in this creepy place, one will go missing, and their lives will be irrevocably changed. Years later, now in their fifties, another young woman finds bones, once again bringing this group, or at least those who are left, back together though in very changed circumstances.
After this intriguing and somewhat creepy beginning the pacing slows as we get to know these characters in the aftermath of the tragedy. Although a mystery, it is only the framing of the story as this is a very character driven novel the main character Judith and her life in the aftermath. Won't say much more about her, but her story is the most interesting. The plot itself is in no way as strong as the characterizations, often relying on coincidences and other questionable happenings. The characters though, in my opinion, were strong enough to overcome what was at times, shaky storytelling. The characters are what ultimately hooked me. They were multifaceted, interesting and their lives in the aftermath of both the disappearance and discovery of the bones, was very ably handled, and often surprising.
The usual twists and turns, and a rather unique one, propel the story forward. The ending maybe a little to pat, but by that time I just wished most of them well.
ARC from publisher. -
3.5 stars. There were a couple of things wrong with Long Black Veil, but I really liked the originality of the characters. In 1980, a group of university friends go into an abandoned jail, and one of them disappears. 35 years later the body is found, and the group's history gets stirred up again. The story moves back and forth in time, and it moves from one point of view to another. My first complaint is that it takes a few chapters to figure out who's who. My second complaint is that the plot is a bit messy and defies credibility on a number of occasions. But -- and it's a sincere but -- I still mostly enjoyed reading Long Black Veil because of the characters, their interactions and their personal musings. They are not necessarily likeable, but they are interesting -- especially Judith whose identity shifts dramatically in the story. I also liked how the author thought through the different ways in which people carry the weight of their past. This one isn't so much a mystery as a character study. I am now definitely interested in reading the author's memoir
She's Not There: A Life in Two Genders. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an opportunity to read an advance copy. -
LONG BLACK VEIL by JENNIFER FINNEY BOYLAN immediately intrigued me and then quickly confused me. It took me a little while to get into this book and then I'm not even sure if I was ever totally engaged in what I was reading.
I never felt like I wanted to DNF it and I am glad that I read it but I'm not exactly sure how I really feel about it now that I'm done. There were definitely some good parts and some not so good. I liked the message and the author was very insightful with one aspect of the storyline. I would have enjoyed it more if it were a mystery. -
I just don't know what to do with this book. To be fair I went into it thinking it was, as advertised in all the library catalogs, a thriller about some sort of covered up crime and a bunch of college kids exploring a deserted old prison. When I have certain expectations of a book and it then turns out to be something entirely different it throws me and definitely affects my opinion. So take that for what its worth. I opened the book thinking I was about to get into kind of a literary "let's investigate the haunted insane asylum" type thing, which sounded like a great idea!
It does at least start off on the right foot. A bunch of college aged kids, a vaguely autistic teenager and (for some reason) an old German professor are at the wedding of two of the college kids and (for some reason) decide to explore an abandoned prison. One of them never leaves.
Many years go by. We are introduced to the grown up versions of the college kids who's lives are predictably all very melodramatically disastrous in one way or another.
But then the real story emerges. Dun dun dun!
This is just a very blah book that left no impression at all. The characters are fairly absurd stereotypes themselves; fat rich guy who says stupid things, redneck husband who sounds like Cleetus from the "Simpsons," snarky artist girl and the whole narrative just has this very pretentious air to it. I mean there's a character named "Falcon" for gods sake. Even the cover is just trying too hard.
I really can't recommend this at all. -
4 Stars.
Long Black Veil is a unique character study of six college friends, brought together 20 years after a pivotal incident in their lives tore them apart.
On a critical night, 20 years ago, six friends take a trip to an abandon prison in Philadelphia. One of them disappears inside. Thereafter, the remaining friends try to go on with their lives, most of them scattering, leaving each other behind. The memories of each other and that night however, linger forever. Memories however, aren’t the only thing that creep up in Long Black Veil and in the end, these six friends have to come face to face with their past.
For me, the character of Judith drew me in like a moth to a flame. My heart ached for her. I think it always will .
The storyline switches from past to present day and is told from different POV’s. At first, certain character’s POV’s are not spelled out. This is confusing at first, but I think the author, Jennifer Finney Boylan, did this on purpose and in retrospect, I think it was very effective. While the book is categorized as a mystery, it is, in my opinion, a character study of these six individuals over the course of 20 years and how they evolve after that one fateful night.
That said: Whatever you go into thinking Long Black Veil is, I promise you, it is not that.
It shocked and amazed me and I found it to be truly interesting. If you are looking something a little unique with strong characters, give this a try.
Thank you to NetGalley, Crown Publishing and Jennifer Finney Boylan for an ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review.
Published on NetGalley, Goodreads and Amazon on 4.28.17. -
Long Black Veil, by Jennifer Finney Boylan, is a intriguing read!
There are many characters and alot going on. Once I got everyone and everything figured out the story flowed nicely.
A group of college friends, one younger brother and a teacher decide to tour Philadelphia's notorious and abandoned Eastern State Penitentiary. They become eerily locked in and one of the group ends up missing.
Twenty years later a skull and body is discovered hidden in the walls. A murderer was amongst the group on that fateful day. Who will it be? Their haunted lives are dissected revealing life changing secrets.
An enjoyable mystery with many twists and turns.
Thank you to Net Galley and Crown Publishing for an arc of this novel. -
And so success had come to her, as it comes to so many people, not by doing the things she loved, which she did ineptly, But by doing the things she hated, that at which she was a genius.
Long Black Veil
by Jennifer Finney Boylan
Well it is the end of the first month of 2021 and I have already DNFED three books this year! Am I off to a roaring start or what?
To be honest, Long Black Veil, is not a bad book. I read enough of it to give it a rating. But no way is it the book for me.
A group of kids decide to explore an abandoned prison in the early Nineteen Eighties. They inadvertently get separated and then locked in.
In the process of all this, one of the friends does not make it out.
The friends' lives are all changed by this. Some of them are emotionally brought down. Or worse.
OK....From the beginning, I was doubting whether I should have picked this. The scenes of being locked in the prison were apropriately creepy but the dialogue...the dialogue, man...it was heavy handed and for me it didn't flow.
There was much talk about mundane things..and lots of inner dialogue as well. I do think it sort of got better as I went along but I struggled from the beginning to really get into it.
And the book also features...pretty early on....TRIGER ALERT: ANIMAL CRUELTY.
I seem to be fining this more and more lately. In fact I am now going to create my own GR category for books with animal abuse. I will say as I have said before....many of us readers do not want to be triggered by reading about horrible things happening to cats or dogs or sheep or goats or llamas or tigers or bunnies or dolphins or squirrels or skunks or buffaloes or zebras...you get the picture right?
I found this to be less a mystery then a multi layered character study about friends. Not what I was seeking at this time. I did categorize it as Historical but that is because it parts of it take place in 1980. Wow...it hurts to think 1980 was so long ago!
Long Black Veil has a powerful hook, an amazing title, a large cast of diverse and complex characters and isn't all that long. But for the reasons mentioned above, it was not for me. -
I finished Long Black Veil almost a month ago and am still a bit flummoxed about how to rate and review it. This book started off so well—intriguing and atmospheric, with a central dilemma that I'd never seen used in a novel before. I know others have complained that there were a lot of characters to keep track of, but I thought they were very well drawn and it didn't take long for me to get them all straight. I genuinely loved hearing about how all of their lives turned out as they grew up and moved into middle age. Long Black Veil aims to be a literary mystery/thriller, so plot is obviously important, which works for me because I am a lover of plot. However, even I have to say that when the action really kicked in in the second half, it was almost too much plot for me. So much plot, piling up everywhere. It kind of obliterated everything that was dark and eerie and atmospheric in the first half. Regardless, I'm still thinking about this novel a month later, so that means something. I'm somewhere between 3 and 4 stars, rounding up.
As an aside, it's worth noting that there's a lot of cool stuff in here involving Eastern State Penitentiary, so if you're familiar with the Philadelphia area you might enjoy checking this book out for that reason.
I won this book via a giveaway here on Goodreads. Thank you to the publisher. -
Intelligently written, dark, and fascinating. It features a very large cast of characters, and at about 25% in I almost put it down and started something else, confused about who was who. I'm really glad I didn't, as it becomes much clearer as the book goes on. This is one of those books that is best enjoyed going in blind. I'm going to be very careful not to include any spoilers in this review, but it's going to be a short one because they're major plot points. It can get a bit dark and depressing at times, but it made me think and I enjoyed the ride at the end.
A group of friends went into an abandoned penitentiary one day and it changed their lives. No one will be the same after this eventful day. One of them disappears inside, a newlywed never to be seen again. Though her husband and friends hope that she's out there somewhere, it seems she's never left that despairing place. Her remains are found twenty years later. The friends and husband she left behind are now all in their fifties. The find reignites the interest in the case, and the police want someone to go down for it... but will it be the right person?
I was given an ARC of this book from Net Galley and Crown Publishing, thank you! My review is honest and unbiased. -
Literary fiction, not a murder mystery. And definitely not at all like Donna Tartt's The Secret History. It's mainly a character study about a transgender woman. The murder plot is only there to bring about conflict in her current life. The writing style starts out decent, but then deteriorates as the story progresses. None of the characters are well-developed, but because Judith is the main focus she's a bit more fleshed-out. This book had alot of potential, but left me disappointed.
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4 stars--I really liked it.
The descriptive copy for this book makes it sound like a mystery. It's not, really. In fact, there's not much plot at all. I'm going to talk about what the book IS about, and it might be considered a spoiler--though, since as I said, the plot is sparse, I personally don't think it's really a spoiler. But you've been warned!
This book is a character study about being trans. It's about Judith, a trans woman, and her experiences, and how she's changed and hasn't changed through her life. It's about her college friends and how they, too, have changed and stayed the same. It's about intimacy--what is it? Is it possible? How many secrets can you keep and still be known and loved by someone else?
I found Judith's voice to be genuine. She was both world-weary and hopeful. I especially sympathized when she said how she'd like, just once, to not have to explain herself and her gender to everyone--how she'd like to lay that burden down even for a moment.
For the first 50 pages or so, I found this book confusing. I wasn't sure who all the characters were, I wasn't sure who was speaking, and I found the writing style choppy. However, it grew on me. By the end of the book, I found the writing poignant, and the characterization was spot on.
I received this review copy from the publisher on NetGalley. Thanks for the opportunity to read and review; I appreciate it! -
This review can also be found at
Carole's Random Life in Books.
I enjoyed this book quite a bit. It was a bit of a different story than I expected it to be only because I don't tend to read book summaries very carefully. I went into this book expecting a straight forward mystery thriller but I think that this book really a bit different. I didn't really think that the mystery was really the main driving point of the book instead the focus was on the characters and how their lives have changed since the event at the prison. I am glad that I decided to give the book a try.
This book focuses on several different periods of time. In 1980, this group of friends were locked in an abandoned prison and one of them never made it out. The other main focus of the book is set in more recent times when her body is finally discovered. There are some chapters that are told entirely during one period of time but a lot of the book set in the more recent times include a lot of memories. The past is obviously still a big part of these characters present day.
The book spends some time with each member of the group that was at the prison that night back in 1980. The main focus really seemed to be on Judith's life since that day. Her life is nothing like it was back then. Her situation has changed dramatically but it really doesn't have anything to do with what happened at the prison that night.
I did have a few issues with the story. Judith's deception to her husband of many years just seemed like to big of a stretch. I don't really understand how a close married couple like that would be able to keep such a huge secret from each other. I also don't get how the body could of been lost for so long when it was right there the whole time. Did they not do a proper search? I also feel like I should probably warn readers that there is a scene in this book where an individual is putting shelter dogs to sleep one after another as part of his job. I know this happens and I really wish it didn't but I know that reading that kind of scene will bother some readers.
The writing is what really won me over with this book. The story just flowed and even when I was questioning a plot point, I didn't want to put the book down. The point of views in the story seemed to be changed exactly when they needed to be and I always felt like the book was moving forward. The memories of the past worked into the sections set in the present worked perfectly. This was a book that I read very quickly because it completely held my attention.
I would recommend this book to others. The book isn't perfect but the writing is great and the story is solid. This is the first book by Jennifer Finney Boylan that I have read but I would definitely pick her work up again in the future.
I received a review copy of this book from Crown Publishing via Blogging for Books.
Initial Thoughts
I really enjoyed this book. I liked the way the story unfolded and was equally interested in the present and the past. -
I'm really not sure what to think. This was the first book in my life that made me realize the extreme difference between enjoyment and engagement. The book was definitely a page turner, and I read it in quickly in two hours, but the experience itself really wasn't that enjoyable.
Admittedly I found myself confused by the overwhelming amount of secondary characters, feeling detached from everyone except Judith, a transgender woman who is struggling between burying the past (which she had done years ago) or revisiting it to save an innocent friend from a terrible fate. Ben was one character I really wish I got to see more of. Despite his mental illness, he had the sort of quiet wisdom - even when he was little - that I was very curious in.
The story seems to focus more on family and realistic contemporary issues, than on the murder that the synopsis focuses on, and I have not also admit that the former was what I was really interested in. When the mystery was revealed, I found myself unsurprised and underwhelmed, but I soon realized that what made this book a page-turner was the emphasis on Judith's struggles with her past and present identities.
There were some time and setting jumps every chapter that may have muddled the story for me a little, but the writing style itself was relatively interesting, which contributed greatly to the atmosphere that the story depends so much on. -
For me this book was a big page turner. I kept wanting to read it, but work got in the way.
This story has an unexpected twist that you never see coming.
The arts and food are main parts of the plot. So keep your eyes open to that. Saying anymore would spoil this exciting story. -
via my blog
https://bookstalkerblog.wordpress.com/
"That the struggle to find a connection between the people we have been and the people we become is not some crazy drama unique to people like me. It’s all of us.”
We kill off parts of ourselves throughout our lives, shedding bits and pieces that no longer make sense. There still remains a core that holds everyone we have every been, from that young curious child to the confused teen and so on. In that sense, we aren’t much different from the characters in this story. Some are trapped in time by the mysterious disappearance of their friend and wife, while others have moved on and ditched their old grieving selves. It’s a tangle, which ‘friend’ can be trusted? Years pass, they are punishing ones for Casey whose wife Wailer disappeared at the Eastern State Penitentiary, the place the college friends just wanted to look at, Tripper’s idea as he was a history major at Wesleyan and wanted to see the ruins. No one could have known Maisie’s little brother Benny’s longing for a cat would spell doom for the friends. When Wailer’s remains are found , the past surfaces and Casey is once again a suspect. Judith Carrigan can save her friend, she is the only one who can prove Casey’s innocence but coming forward means destroying the only true life, and love, she has ever known. This is the soul of the novel, what is identity and are lies admissible if they are vital to fitting into your own skin? Is is sometimes necessary to vanish from everyone you know and love if it’s the only means to living the life you hunger for? Without giving away Judith’s secrets, and why confronting the past would be killing off the life she has come to love it can be said that this is not just a story about murder nor a who done it. It is about identity and how we think we can shed our past, which can never be buried, it is a shadow that accompanies us to our dying day. It will demand to be acknowledged, if you can’t learn to embrace it and chose to run, it will drag you back.
Maisie’s little brother Benny was a character I wanted to spend more time with too. We know from the start of the novel, his ‘whim’ to have a kitty is a catalyst that changes the course of the friends lives. Benny is different from most people, and that never changes. I wish more time was spent on him, aside from Judith- he was a character I fell for. The story jumps through time and characters so it can confuse some readers. However, the story is a provocative one. It’s interesting to wonder how different Judith’s life would have been had she been born in this decade. Anything built on lies will eventually crumble, if all our childhood stories and fairy tales taught us anything it is that and yet we still lie to ourselves and others. Everything comes back around to bite us eventually, despite our intentions there comes a time we have to confront the consequences of our choices. For Judith, the time is now. How does Quentin play into all of this? Quentin’s decision destroys something inside of his friend Rachael as much as the death of Wailer does. This is a bit of a lesson in how we touch others in every choice we make, how we can have a strange effect on the lives of those near and dear even when we don’t mean to, when our steps are full of intentions based on our own feelings and we never stop to think how others could be poisoned by it. But we cannot understand the damage that will last long after our acts, not always, not even those of us who claim to be wise. There is a mountain of compassion I had for Judith, on the other hand you have to consider her beloved Jake and their son Falcon. Lies by omission are still lies, and Judith’s are whoppers- it is robbing Jake of his free will in a sense when she keeps her story to herself and yet there is a deep compassion one feels for her inner struggle, and understanding as to why she chose to remain silent. “There are times when I think it’s impossible to know another soul. I don’t know, maybe we’re lucky that way. If we knew what really went on inside other people’s private hearts it would make our eyeballs bleed.”
Wailer isn’t the only who disappears. Her death is senseless, it is ruinous for everyone at the prison. Who locked the friends in? How could something turn so deadly? Casey feels unworthy of the love he had. Before his wife’s body is found, years pass and he imagines that maybe she got a look at her ‘slob’ of a husband and ditched him. Maybe Wailer just walked on off to a better life. He never felt worthy, and he is living in limbo, letting the years eat away at him. Becoming more the slob he felt himself to be, frozen in one moment. It’s interesting how we let our minds create a reality that is brutal to us, victimizing ourselves. The use of the old penitentiary is an interesting choice, as we come to see the characters locked behind prisons of their own creation in the years that follow. The body can be a prison just as much as the mind We may not know who did it, but we know Casey is innocent. We know Quentin can’t vouch for him this time. Will Judith give up her life to save her friend, who once saved hers? You’ll have to read. I also have to comment on the cover, it is gorgeous and the title fitting. What hides behind the Long Black Veil?
Publication Date: April 11, 2017
Crown Publishing
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I won an ARC of this book through a giveaway on Goodreads. Thank you Penguin Random House/Crown Publishing and Jennifer Finney Boylan.
I LOVED THIS BOOK!!
Wow! i really can't recall ever reading anything like it. I've never been one of those people who "could not put this book down". Because i can. i can be on the last page of a murder mystery, about to find out who the killer is and i can put the book down. But I COULD NOT PUT THIS BOOK DOWN! If life hadn't gotten in the way, i would have read it in one setting. It comes out April 11th. Read it! -
The above is the description taken from Goodreads.
However as fitting as that is, it is not the description from the cover, and I feel a bit let down. I was expecting this book to be more of a thriller, and I guess I was expecting it to be.... thrilling. I suppose it is more a mystery, and it's aftermath. When the reason for Wailer's disappearance was revealed I was let down again, and even more so at the ridiculous ending.
I received a complimentary copy for review -
Spots are ok, but it was 75% slog for me to get through these people and their selective or responsive traumas. Not any enjoyment or entertainment factors in this at all for me. Who am I? What's it all about, Alfie- those type of works need to be snappy, clever, sharp with more joy capacity than this one to rate it 3. DNF, but at 75% I rated my enjoyment and interest plus the writing style. No go for me. And I did understand what Quinlan's dilemma was. How could I not with the current trends of awareness etc. I do have a prejudice, always have, against books which use the highly topical tragic or otherwise selective condition in such a way to mass appeal for the greatest demographic popularity. Remember all the AIDS fiction books? Most of which were filled with lesser or greater amounts of misinformation. Not just my opinion, at all.
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I started this book several times (confused due to a big cast of characters) and wanted to put on my DNF shelf but since I won it from LibraryThing I thought I had better finish and review. Long Black Veil was page turner! The story begins with 6 students, 1 teacher, and 1 little boy sneaking into an dilapidated, run down, closed state penitentiary. Of course it's dark and scary and of course they get locked inside. They try to find a way out, get separated and a tragedy occurs. Thirty years later their past catches up to them. Each of the students has a story to tell when a skeleton is discovered. There is one major twist in the story that I actually had to reread many times to make sure I understood what was happening. Suspenseful, scary at times, edgy and well written describes LBV. A solid 4 stars.
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If you've ever heard Jennifer Finney Boylan speak at length (or watched her take on the unenviable work of shepherding Caitlyn Jenner out of the white and wealthy worldview bubble, as a trans advocate on I Am Cait) then you have a good idea what to expect when you pick up this book. She is one of those writers who writes exactly as she speaks, and her voice comes through very strongly here.
I'd like to start this review by stating that I admire and am grateful for Jennifer's work as she shares and normalizes a trans perspective, and I find her to be a warm person whom I'd probably like to know.
That said, though Long Black Veil is well-written and readable (I regularly clocked 100 pages a night), I'm not really sure that this book is for me. For one thing, I had hoped that it would be steeped in creepy gothic mystery: the cover art featuring Leonardo Da Vinci's St. John the Baptist and the Eastern State Penitentiary setting, along with the plot description indicating that the long dead body of the main character's disappeared friend is found, really got my hopes up. Imagine my disappointment when the culprit AND motivation for the murder is outed like halfway through the book. The mystery element is propulsive through the first section of the novel, but it turns out to be a rather weak motivator to keep reading.
The second criticism I have of this book is that even though the first plot of the disappearance/murder of main character Judith's friend Wailer, and the second plot of Judith's "disappearance" from her previous life as a man named Quentin (she faked her death for all intents and purposes and transitioned from male to female at age 29), are thematically similar, I don't think that they necessarily work well mashed up together into the same book. On one hand, you've got a murder mystery. On the other hand, you have the story of a young man gone missing of his own choosing, because he had not been living an honest female life. The plots are superficially alike, in terms of there being a missing person, but with totally different intention and motivation.
A lot of time is spent on Judith's story, with it finally becoming an impassioned plea directed at readers to not judge people about who they are to find out if they are worthy of love, but to just offer love anyway, as one human to another. I read this and thought, "Obviously this is the point of the book. It's so important that Boylan had to break the fourth wall to say it. So why even bother with the mystery plot? Just tell Judith's story." I believe that this is the story Boylan really wanted to tell, but suspect that it is packaged inside a mystery plot to find a wider audience.
My third major criticism of this book is that I find it funny that Boylan is about spreading warm, non-judgmental love to people regardless of whether they fit a mold...but then every single character cannot stop referring to Casey's size whenever they talk about him, always referring to him as a "walrus" or a "fat fuck." At the end of the book, he even begins dating a woman who calls him something like "very large and unhealthy" during their first real conversation. It is strange that Boylan lets any character be abused for the way they look, even if he is amiable and just takes it in stride.
Even though I've done little but criticize thus far, there is enough to recommend to this book that I chose to give it three stars. It is well-written, with whispers of Donna Tartt's Secret History, with some endearingly eccentric characters. And despite thinking it is in the wrong book, I found Judith's life story to be compelling, before and after "death".
But since this book clearly brings out the rant in me, I'd also like to say that I really look forward to the day that a character in a book can just be trans and that is simply one fact about them, not the basis of a plot of having to explain themselves to everyone they had ever known in the past. I'm sure we are a long way from that, given many people's complete lack of understanding of what it is to be trans, but it frustrates me that this is even a controversial matter. It's so arrogant to reject another person's understanding of him or herself. Sexuality, gender, none of it should matter. If you're inclined to like someone, then like them. If you're not inclined to like them, don't. Who cares what parts they have or what sex(es) makes them all tingly inside? Just listen when they tell you who they are. -
Long Black Veil by Jennifer Finney Boylan is a 2017 Crown publication.
Lithub gave this book a fair amount of ad coverage a few weeks back, and I could swear someone, somewhere along the way, compared this book to Donna Tartt’s ‘The Secret History’. Well, that was all the prodding I needed. I checked it out of the library ASAP.
Well, no offense to the author or this story, but it’s not a modern day ‘Secret History’, and once again a categorization misstep by the publishers will most likely hurt the book, more than help it.
So, if you decide to read this book, do not go into it with any preconceived notions, and do not think of it as a mystery/thriller. Do that, and you will not be disappointed in how the book is structured or expect it be something that it is not.
The setup is a little murky, and left me scratching my head a little, but, I decided to play along. A group of friends had just attended their friend’s wedding, then everyone, including the bride and groom, decide to explore an abandoned prison.
However, one of them never makes it out. Now, many years later, the victim’s remains have been found, which prompts the survivors to reunite, with the hope of keeping all their carefully held, explosive and shocking secrets from being revealed, hanging by a thread.
It goes without saying that I was expecting something vastly different when I started the book, and my expectations were set a little higher. I was very confused and conflicted as the story progressed, realizing it was not at all what I was led to believe it was. However, the story was very absorbing in many ways, but the crime and the truth behind what happened in the creepy penitentiary, was disappointing.
The main thread deals with a transgender person who hid their past from everyone, especially those closest to them. After having gone to great and very unorthodox lengths to find and create a stable life, Judith’s world has been tilted on its axis, and she will have to reveal all, in order to help her old college buddies.
The book is more of a character study from that point on, but I think the discovery of the body paved the way for the former college friends to free themselves from their many years of emotional bondage. The message, I think, is that being true to oneself and to others in always the best option, despite how difficult that might be.
The writing was a little disjointed in some places and the final few chapters nearly careened off the tracks for a number of reasons.
However, there was an upbeat ending, with a feeling that justice is finally served, that peace can come to those who need it most, and a new beginning is on the horizon for others, which was the best I could have hoped for.
Although, the book didn’t live up to my expectations, and was not a mystery/thriller, as promised, it was an interesting analysis and character study. This is not my usual fare, and the book was a bit challenging at times, but sometimes it’s good for me to stretch out a little and try something I might not ordinarily, even though that wasn’t exactly what I was shooting for.
3 stars -
I finished this book a few days ago and I've been struggling to find a way to describe my experience since. Frankly this book was....not good. I'd read a lot of promising reviews and it was even praised by a few authors I really respect. The expectations I had going into the novel were few: I want a cohesive story with well fleshed out characters and an intriguing plot. I didn't get any of that.
To start off the author gives us about eight characters. They're introduced, but only kind of. It's confusing and I didn't feel that there was enough to differentiate at the start. Their names were a bit confusing and I kept getting them mixed up. This really didn't change as the novel went on. The only character that had a full story was Judith. The rest of the characters were just there. They played their roles but I wasn't made to care about them at all. I felt a few of the characters were just not necessary.
This book was very much set up to be a mystery/thriller. However it falls short of that. Yes there is a bit of mystery involved but it almost doesn't matter. At the end of the day the book is mostly about a transgender woman and her life. Judith's chapters I enjoyed. They mostly made sense. If the book had been described as just her trying to go through life I would have had very different expectations for it. Instead she gets a few chapters here and there and the rest of the characters are sprinkled in.
While Judith's chapters were fairly well written the others were a mess. Jumping from perspective and adding things that didn't make sense. A lot of times there would just be a new character and you were expected to accept it and know who they were when you were given little information on them. Trippers chapter I found the most confusing as he jumped around all over the place.
And then there's the resolution. The whole idea of Tripper and Maisey hiring someone to beat up one of the teacher characters (I think) and then he goes and breaks Wailers neck by accident? It wasn't believable. Even in the dark someone would know the difference between the two. The whole cover up was bizarre as well. And the introduction to the killer was just as weird. The whole mystery, which is said to be one of the main plot points, isn't really a mystery at all. There's nothing to figure out on your own. It's all handed to you in a very unfulfilling way.
The end was just as absurd as the rest of the novel. Ben, the boy with special needs, is basically cut off from the world by his sister. Then he decides to go shoot someone to fix everything? It was far fetched and just plain odd. And then the killer getting in the car with Judith who had the most confusing conversation in the book with the detective beforehand. It's all just weird. It wasn't satisfying in any way.
The book had potential. One that Was wasted. I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone. I was sad at how much I disliked it because it had seemed so promising. In the end it was just a disappointment. -
secret history knockoff but make it cringy and painful to read
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This falls apart rather spectacularly at the end, but either because it was so fabulous up until then or hell, just as points for how amazingly preposterous it all gets, this is going to get a deadly from me. One of those rare books that I read really quickly because I adored it but then needed to hold off on finishing because I didn't want it to end.
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3.5/5
Find all of my thoughts here! -
This is the kind of book that makes me want to be a writer. I loved it.
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I suspect I am not the only person who is a sucker for books that claim to be readalikes for The Secret History. This one said it was for fans of Donna Tartt and Megan Abbott and they basically forced me to hand over my money and purchase it immediately. But the thing that normally happens is I finish the book and I am angry because it is not The Secret History, not even close, and I feel manipulated. Long Black Veil is not The Secret History, and yet I do not feel like they were entirely off the mark. It's the first time I can say that in my many years of reading books in that fruitless search for another Secret History. It's not a readalike exactly, but there was so much here that I enjoyed that I am glad the book called out to me and made me read it.
The Secret History comparison comes from the early scenes where a group of college friends is involved in a horrible crime. But then the book begins to move in a very different direction. It is still about that horrible crime and its aftermath on the characters' lives, but after a while you realize that those things are really just the vehicle for a much deeper story about one of these characters. If you enjoy crime novels that are more character studies than whodunnits, this is a good selection. Which is why that Donna Tartt/Megan Abbott callout ultimately works for me. The writing and the story may be different than those authors, but much of the intent is the same.
At first it will seem like there are too many characters to keep track of, but give yourself a little time with it. Boylan quite expertly gets us introduced to them individually and gives us the opportunity to get to know them more deeply. And the multiple points of view is great to let us see just how differently one event can be interpreted through different characters. For me this was definitely a character-driven literary crime novel and I really enjoyed spending time with it.
I am going to include a spoiler section here, even though most people would consider this basic and non-spoilery, but I try to include as littler spoilers in my reviews as possible. So if you want to come to this one totally clean, go for it. If you're curious to learn more, here's some basic discussion of one of the major themes of the book:
I listened to the audio of this book, which is read by the author. I love books read by the author. I would recommend doing an audio sample if you're considering it. I suspect many readers will find the author's particular style a little offputting if they are used to a more traditional audiobook reader. Personally I hate traditional audiobook readers much of the time, so I really enjoyed it. Plus Boylan does great voices when required. I love knowing what a certain character is meant to sound like and here--particularly with Casey--I would never have read him the way Boylan does and it helped me get the character much better. -
Long Black Veil is a difficult novel to get into because the author immediately introduces about eight characters known only by their first names – and since several of the first names are non-gender-specific nicknames, it is difficult even to be certain at first of the sex of some of the characters. I would suggest jotting down a note or two for each character as they are introduced as a way of maybe easing yourself into the story.
The story itself is about a group of misfits who become friends during their freshman year of college. And what misfits, they are. I’m trying hard here to think of one of the bunch that is even remotely normal, but I’m coming up empty. They were lucky to find each other and even luckier that the friendships endured for four years because not long after leaving school, one of them was dead under very mysterious circumstances, circumstances that ended the friendships.
The group’s fatal mistake is to visit an abandoned Philadelphia prison on a “dark and stormy night” during which someone decides to lock them inside. In the near-panic that followed, one of the girls, Wailer,” disappears and is never seen again – never seen again, that is, until thirty years later when someone discovers her remains where the body had been hidden all those years ago.
Now the pressure is on to figure out why Wailer died, who killed her, and who has been covering up the crime for so long. Is a member of the old group guilty? Will they turn on each other? Do others have to die before Wailer’s murder is finally solved?
Jennifer Finney Boylan is certainly not afraid to move her plot along, and in the process, she takes the reader on quite a ride. Just about the time you begin to believe that the plot has been stretched to its breaking point, Boylan stretches it even farther (but for some readers these additional stretches may be stretches too far to retain credibility). Long Black Veil makes for fun reading but it’s a hard novel to take very seriously. If this were a movie, it would probably be playing at your local drive-in theater…if you still have one of those around. -
Abandoned at 20%. Initially intriguing, this past-and-present mystery has, at this point, sagged into a mess of weird characters who aren't so much unlikeable as incomprehensible. I've long thought there's a subset of the 'books compared to The Secret History' minigenre that consists of American novels in which people behave so little like any human I've ever met that they more closely resemble aliens. Examples include
The Whole World,
Red Leaves and, slightly more tenuously (since it's not a campus novel),
Unbecoming. I feel pretty sure this is another one.
(Characters being called things like 'Wailer', 'Tripper' and 'Falcon' isn't helping, stupid character names being one of my literary pet hates. Incidentally, Wailer, as well as her hideous nickname, is also saddled with one of the worst, most unconvincing accents ever committed to paper.)
Advance review copy received from the publisher, Penguin Random House. -
Sincerely wished to give this book a fair chance, but I had to put it down repeatedly, read something else, then return to see if I could like it. Transgender topic is of interest, but the writing style I could not warm up to. I am a person who mutes and fast forwards frequently. Loads of dialogue that bored me, frequent brief references to historical milestones to indicate what year is being discussed as the bouncing ball bounces...frenetic? Highly distracted? It just didn't land anywhere I could get solid footing.
I know the book has been well received by others, so there I am again in the minority.