Sepulchre
by Kate Mosse
It’s not that I haven’t been reading, life has just been a bit busy to be reviewing books. I finally finished this one recently, it was given to me by a friend, and I’ve had it by my bedside for night time reading when I didn’t have much else. It was just a book that didn’t seem to need to be rushed, there wasn’t much anything urgent about it, so I’d just read a few pages at a time.
It’s a thick book, over 540 pages, and that’s the soft cover version. I had read Labyrinth by Kate Mosse before and enjoyed it, so was looking forward to this one as well. It just seemed to move slowly along, and if you’ve read Labyrinth, it all seems kind of echoey, like “oh, another one of these ‘people haunted by ancestor’s troubles, driven by mysterious urges to solve past mysteries. It’s always a genetically connected individual, again a female main character trying to find out about her own past and stumbling across her ancestor’s troubles, and getting involved with a man from her own time connected to ancestor’s past love as well.
Always a young woman in the past is the hero of her times, and the current-day woman is somewhat adrift, finding her own self.
There’s a good bit of history of the Carsacone region of France, and some Paris history around the time of the French revolution. This one focusses on Tarot cards, and Tarot readings, so maybe that’s why I wasn’t too wrapped up in it, as Tarot (forgive me, true believers) has always seems kinda hokey and made-up to be sinister or believable. So that part didn’t grab my attention, maybe if it interests you, you’ll find the story moving along a bit faster. As it was, it was just okay, and the ending, while pretty darned predictable if you’ve read Labyrinth, was somewhat satisfying. It just wasn’t suspenseful.
If Tarot fascinates you, or French history, or Carsacone France region, maybe you’ll enjoy it more, I just found it a pleasant but not thrilling diversion, worth reading if you don’t have to spend a lot to get it.
I know, damning with faint praise, but it was just okay. Labyrinth was so much better, that this kinda disappointed me.