REVIEWS BY JULIE HALE

Mortal Love
Fans of historical fiction will relish this opulent, original novel from award-winning author Hand. The narrative opens in England in the 1870s, with a fateful meeting between American painter Radborne Comstock and the beautiful Evienne Upstone. Evienne has served as model and muse for a number of artists, including one, Jacobus Candell, whom she drove insane. Her connection to Radborne, as it turns out, proves equally fatal. Decades later, when Valentine, Radborne's grandson, sees the erotically charged paintings his forebear executed while under Evienne's sway, he, too, goes mad. Hand skillfully spins another, similar subplot about a contemporary American writer named Daniel Rowlands, who—while researching the myth of Tristan and Iseult—meets Larkin Meade. Daniel soon develops an obsession for the whimsical Larkin that leaves him emotionally unhinged. Over the course of the novel, the author cleverly builds connections between Larkin and Evienne, and across the centuries they both come to embody the same aesthetic principle, that of the elusive, inspirational muse, a symbol of both creation and destruction. A timeless tale about the nature of obsession, Hand's novel is an ingenious examination of the artistic process, a hypnotic look at passion pushed to its limits. A reading group guide is available online at www.harpercollins.com.

Mortal Love
By Elizabeth Hand
Perennial, $13.95
384 pages, ISBN 0060755342



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Snow
Rooted in international politics, this spellbinding new novel from Turkish writer Pamuk examines the tension between Islamic radicalism and Western liberalism. If the author's agenda sounds intimidating, never fear: Pamuk has couched timely issues in a fast-moving plot that carries the reader into the heart of Turkey, while introducing a cast of unforgettable characters. Ka is a Turkish poet who returns to his native country after 12 years of exile in Germany. An Istanbul newspaper sends him to the village of Kars to investigate a wave of recent suicides among teenage girls of the town. Ka also wants to see his friend, Ipek, a beautiful woman he knew as a teenager. But the culture shock involved in his return is greater than Ka anticipated. The town of Kars is teeming with poor families, Kurdish separatists and Islamic fundamentalists, Ipek's sister, Kadife, among them. When a snowstorm hits the village, isolating it from the outside world, tension mounts and violence soon erupts. The local government is threatened, and Ka tries to persuade Ipek to go with him to Germany. In this multilayered narrative, Pamuk writes with great clarity about a complex clash of political ideologies, adding elements of intrigue, danger and suspense to the mix. Snow is a worthy follow-up to his acclaimed novel My Name is Red. A reading group guide is available in print and online at www.readinggroupcenter.com.

Snow
By Orhan Pamuk
Vintage, $14.95
448 pages, ISBN 0375706860



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Saints at the River
Set in a small town in South Carolina, Rash's engaging second novel tells the story of a family marked by tragedy and the unique battle they engage in to achieve closure. When the young daughter of an affluent banker drowns in the Tamassee River, her family—employing its wealth and influence—begins a campaign to build a dam so that they can retrieve her body. But they're opposed by a group of local environmentalists, who will stop at nothing to protect the river. Keeping track of this conflict is a young photojournalist named Maggie Glenn, who comes to sympathize with both sides as she covers the dispute for a nearby newspaper. Maggie grew up in the town where events are unfolding, and she makes an appealing narrator, recounting her past and revisiting her troubled relationship with her father—a conflict that comes to a head during her visit. Maggie also finds herself increasingly attracted to writer Allen Hemphill, a Pulitzer Prize finalist who has joined her to document the family's story. But Allen is haunted by dark events from his own past—a tragedy that may prevent him from embarking on a new life with Maggie. Rash brings a winning authenticity to this distinctly Southern narrative. A reading group guide is available online at www.picadorusa.com.

Saints at the River
By Ron Rash
Picador, $14
256 pages, ISBN 0312424914



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