Scan barcode
A review by hewlettelaine
Sepulchre by Kate Mosse
2.0
I was very disappointed by this novel. Having read Labyrinth, I was interested to see what Mosse decided to follow up with. Sepulchre follows on from Labyrinth in similar style, flipping back and forth through time between modern-day Meredith Martin attempting to research her family history in southern France and the late nineteenth century Leonie Vernier in the same place.
Meredith and her story are quite engaging. The mysteries of her family past and the hints at the connection back through time to the Verniers' promises an interesting story. This story is entirely ruined, however, with the parts of the book surrounding Leonie Vernier. Leonie is an utterly irritating character. Childish, peevish and utterly stupid for the vast majority of the novel, she quicky began to grate on me. As the heroine of the novel, I found myself unable to muster much sympathy with her. Her brother Anatole and their aunt Isolde are much more interesting characters but they are left mostly in the background, which adds to the frustration with the nineteenth century parts of the story.
The real let-down with this novel, however, are the supernatural elements. The mystery surrounding the Tarot cards and the titular Sepulchre seems almost tacked onto the edges of what is essentially a family drama. Mosse sets up the Tarot as an important element at the beginning of the story and it remains a framing device for events, but it is mostly in the background until the end. There is very little exploration of why the Tarot is magical or what the significance of the Sepulchre actually is. I could not help but feel that this would have been a better novel without the supernatural drama, which came off feeling hollow.
Lastly, the book is incredibly long and many chapters seem to lack any vital action or plot development. All in all, I found Sepulchre to be a lightly entertaining but ultimately disappointing read.
Meredith and her story are quite engaging. The mysteries of her family past and the hints at the connection back through time to the Verniers' promises an interesting story. This story is entirely ruined, however, with the parts of the book surrounding Leonie Vernier. Leonie is an utterly irritating character. Childish, peevish and utterly stupid for the vast majority of the novel, she quicky began to grate on me. As the heroine of the novel, I found myself unable to muster much sympathy with her. Her brother Anatole and their aunt Isolde are much more interesting characters but they are left mostly in the background, which adds to the frustration with the nineteenth century parts of the story.
The real let-down with this novel, however, are the supernatural elements. The mystery surrounding the Tarot cards and the titular Sepulchre seems almost tacked onto the edges of what is essentially a family drama. Mosse sets up the Tarot as an important element at the beginning of the story and it remains a framing device for events, but it is mostly in the background until the end. There is very little exploration of why the Tarot is magical or what the significance of the Sepulchre actually is. I could not help but feel that this would have been a better novel without the supernatural drama, which came off feeling hollow.
Lastly, the book is incredibly long and many chapters seem to lack any vital action or plot development. All in all, I found Sepulchre to be a lightly entertaining but ultimately disappointing read.