The Diva Review:
I love the idea of this book. The connection between past and present, the alchemical life of Isaac Newton, magic, the supernatural, murder and intrigue – I love it all. But, sadly, I didn't love this book. In fact, I tried to read it several times and just couldn't get through it.
There seem to be three distinct stories here, all of which are supposed to be somehow intertwined with each other and the past. For me, this really didn't hold water. It seemed incompetently put together without any thought about how it could possibly be tied together in a satisfying way. The first and most compelling story is of the unfinished manuscript of a murdered scholar. She had been researching the life of Isaac Newton and, it seems, had stumbled upon evidence to suggest that he may have used alchemical means to commit murder in order to advance his career. The second story is of the scholar's son who hires a former lover to finish the book. Although married, he has had a long romantic relationship with this woman and for some reason trusts her to move into his mother's house to finish the book. And, for some other reason, though they have been broken up for some time, she jumps right in again. Lastly, there is a subplot concerning the son's work as a neuroscientist who experiments on animals. Some kind of nutty activist group is committing increasingly violent acts against him and his laboratory.
Mixing past and present is very difficult to do well. There are a lot of plot lines here to juggle and adding a layer of 17th century England just strains the book's ability to hold itself together. Stott is a very good writer and actually seems more comfortable with the 17th century than with present day. Mixing the idea that Newton himself is present in spirit, with a violent animal rights group, and trying to connect them, murders and crime syndicates across 300 years may be too ambitious.
I also found the dialogue to be really cumbersome and difficult to get through. If Stott had stayed the course, she might have had a really compelling story. Instead, as it went on, she threw in all kinds of cheap literary devices and stupid red herrings.
I tried. I really did. This is just the kind of book that I adore, but I couldn't do it. I can't, in good conscience, ask you to do it either.
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