A review by hsrudolph
Serena by Ron Rash

2.0

Successful young stud leaves his North Carolina logging company for a visit to Boston, is seduced by an unusual woman with a mysteriously violent past, marries her nearly instantly and brings her back to North Carolina where she completely rules his world to the point that he abandons his conscience almost entirely - and that bit part of himself that he doesn't submit to her is his undoing. Pemberton's falling under the spell of Serena just never seemed believable to me. Yes she was intelligent and unconventional and sexually self possessed but it was pretty clear from the start that she was a lunatic and had no moral compass. He was strong and capable and I couldn't relate to his being so, well, whipped by her. He was at her mercy as much as her eagle but whereas the author explained rather well how Serena earned the eagle's devotion he never gave me a basis for Pemberton's near complete submission. The best developed character was the lovely Rachel Harmon, who possessed a beautiful strength of character and whose story compelled me to finish the book. I did enjoy the "lumberjack chorus" and the perspective those men gave on life in that time in general, the environmental issues, the class struggle, etc.