Scan barcode
A review by princessrobotiv
Keturah and Lord Death by Martine Leavitt
2.0
I'm a sucker for 'Death and the Maiden' stories, but this one failed to enrapture me. While the construction of the novel was refreshing and entirely fitting to the setting and theme, the tone and execution left much to be desired.
Keturah's character focuses so much on shallow considerations like attractiveness, weight, and class that I found it difficult to believe that she would be of interest to any immortal being, let alone one as severe and immutable as Death. Her thoughts were so . . . plebian. There was nothing of the divine in her characterization, which is really necessary to sell this kind of romance. Truthfully, she had more chemistry with John Temsland.
While I understand the narrative conventions being employed re: the swift and highly formulaic progression of the plot, I still found myself wishing the events were less predictable and the stakes higher. How can the reader expect to believe in a love story between Death and the maiden when the maiden successfully forestalls death for every person she knows? The tension inherent in such a relationship was destroyed. I'm left believing that Keturah would never have loved Death had the plague been allowed to take even one of the villagefolk, which already contradicts the sloppily presented claim that Keturah would love her true love unconditionally (something the readers were consistently asked to believe despite Keturah's fixation on the physical appearances of her potential suitors). Like, sorry, but I can't buy that this maiden would ever run away with a God of Death when she gets nervous about her potential husband becoming fat in ten years.
Finally, I found the metaphor of "Death illuminates/sweetens life" to have been clumsily presented and at odds with the story's conclusion.
Keturah's character focuses so much on shallow considerations like attractiveness, weight, and class that I found it difficult to believe that she would be of interest to any immortal being, let alone one as severe and immutable as Death. Her thoughts were so . . . plebian. There was nothing of the divine in her characterization, which is really necessary to sell this kind of romance. Truthfully, she had more chemistry with John Temsland.
While I understand the narrative conventions being employed re: the swift and highly formulaic progression of the plot, I still found myself wishing the events were less predictable and the stakes higher. How can the reader expect to believe in a love story between Death and the maiden when the maiden successfully forestalls death for every person she knows? The tension inherent in such a relationship was destroyed. I'm left believing that Keturah would never have loved Death had the plague been allowed to take even one of the villagefolk, which already contradicts the sloppily presented claim that Keturah would love her true love unconditionally (something the readers were consistently asked to believe despite Keturah's fixation on the physical appearances of her potential suitors). Like, sorry, but I can't buy that this maiden would ever run away with a God of Death when she gets nervous about her potential husband becoming fat in ten years.
Finally, I found the metaphor of "Death illuminates/sweetens life" to have been clumsily presented and at odds with the story's conclusion.