09 January, 2007

Cage of Stars (Jacquelyn Mitchard)

As I think I've written before, I enjoy Jacquelyn Mitchard's sagas, although they all have certain themes, which I sometimes find a bit tiring. Cage of Stars is her "Mormon" book, and if the information in it was accurate (and I don't see why it wouldn't be) I learnt a good deal that I didn't know about the Church of Latter Day Saints (or LDS as it's referred to in Cage of Stars.)

Ronnie witnesses her sisters' murder, and struggles for the rest of the novel with her parent's decision to forgive the perpetrator. It's an interesting dilemma to consider, of course, one brought to life whenever you see those ridiculous quotes in newspapers to the effect of "I don't believe in capital punishment but if it were my child..."

I enjoyed Ronnie, her alienation from her family, and in some ways from the rest of the world, due to her religious beliefs. The happy ending was a little too pat and unrealistic, as Mitchard's sometimes are, but I enjoyed it at the time - Ronnie travelled her path and comes to her reward, in the end.

4 comments:

jenclair said...

Such variety here! Enjoyed the visit!

Cee said...

I try to keep it interesting, JenClair :-)

Jeane said...

I have always looked for an author who could portray the Mormon lifestyle in a realistic fashion- I wonder if this book would do it for me.

Trish @ Love, Laughter, Insanity said...

Interesting! I have a few books of hers sitting on my shelf (not this one, though). I grew up LDS and I'm always interested in seeing how others portray the religion/culture.