I received a review on Trompe l’Oeil recently from a blogger who has a good following. Mainly, she liked the book, giving it a score of 4 out of 5, which is nothing to sneeze at. But she was not as happy with this novel as she was with Gothic Spring, the first of my works she reviewed. About Trompe l’Oeil, she wrote:
The characters and the plot were unique, but the plot was also a bit confusing…perhaps over my head??? (http://silversolara.blogspot.com/2013/04/trompe-loeil-to-fool-eye-by-caroline.html)
I’ll be the first to confess my writing isn’t a beach read. The plot of Trompe l’Oeil is like the secret tunnels beneath the chateau which are central to the story. The narrative is dark and takes many twists and turns. Characters slip in and out of their roles, appearing to be one person and becoming another. The writer is responsible for bringing the reader along and to some degree I failed with this blogger, though I succeeded with others. In the end whether or not a book is fully embraced, baring poor writing, boils down to a matter of taste.
No author hits all the high notes for everyone all the time. If Shakespeare had written only one play, Coriolanus, his name would probably have been buried in history. On the other hand, if Harper Lee had written a second book after To Kill a Mockingbird, it would always be compared favorably or unfavorably to the first. The same could be said about Margaret Mitchell and her saga, Gone with the Wind. Once an author develops a body of work, the titles will be compared to one another. It comes with the turf.
As a writer, I have no quarrel with a blogger or a critic who chooses to state a preference. To do so gives the review integrity. And it is informative for the writer, too. As for me, when it comes to my books, I always have a preference. I favor the one I’m writing.
(Courtesy of viewitem.eirn.ebay.no)
