The Raising: A Novel
Synopsis (from the back cover): Last year Godwin Honors Hall was draped in black. The university was mourning the loss of one if its own: Nicole Werner, a blond, beautiful, straight-A sorority sister tragically killed in a car accident that left her boyfriend, who was driving, remarkably — some say suspiciously — unscathed. Although a year has passed, as winter begins and the nights darken, obsession with Nicole and her death reignites: She was so pretty. So sweet-tempered. So innocent. Too young to die. Unless she didn’t. Because rumor has it that she’s back…
First Sentence: The scene of the accident was bloodless, and beautiful.
Review: A few years ago I read Kasischke’s In a Perfect World and have been deliciously haunted by it ever since. Kasischke’s prose revealed her love of poetry, the characters were well-wrought, and the dark, apocalyptic setting was eerily prescient. So, when TLC contacted me about reading Kasischke’s latest, I immediately agreed.
I did not know the premise or plot of the novel before I agreed and a quote by Booklist on the backcover did worry me a bit: “…reminiscent of Donna Tartt’s The Secret History.” I did not enjoy Tartt’s thriller, but know that many, many other readers did, so I hoped this was an attempt to capture Tartt’s audience. However, I loved the quote from the front cover by Caroline Leavitt “…Told in knockout, shimmering prose, it’s a literary mystery that’s as hypnotic as it is brilliant.” Who wouldn’t enjoy that!?
Well, after finishing Kasischke’s latest page-turner, I agree with both quotes. The setting of the mystery is a thinly-veiled University of Michigan (where the author teaches) and focuses on the hidden, disturbing rituals of a sorority house. Since I grew up in Michigan, I enjoyed the references to various towns and was easily able to imagine geographically where the characters were throughout the novel.
But the prose didn’t seem as effortless or singular as in her earlier novel. In addition, the characterization felt forced at times. A number of times we were told that a character was smart, even if there seemed to be little evidence. A few of the characters were intentionally unlikeable, but too two-dimensional to spark any sincere interest or connection. The characters seemed more functional than relateable, which is true of many mysteries (and why I read so few). In a mystery, the focus is on the narrative: why invest in a character who may soon disappear? In The Raising, the loss of a character is intriguing, but not tragic. In addition, the ending provides fairly satisfying closure – as much as can be expected of a novel that deals with mysterious deaths and the reappearance of those thought to be dead.
At one point, the protagonist, a professor in the story, explains our fascination with death in a lecture:
“You can pretend you aren’t superstitious… You can imagine that you are not religious. You can be certain that you don’t believe in life after death, if that’s what you want. But, Perry, it doesn’t stop the fact that we are in a very strange position here. We humans. With such a clear knowledge of how it will end, and no idea what will happen afterward – just some symbols, some music, some stories to show us the way.”
Fascinating concept — and self-evident — and I wish this had been explored a bit more philosophically or at least thematically. So, since I was more disappointed than expected, I read the supplemental material included at the end and found a fascinating passage the author wrote about campus ghosts:
“Death doesn’t skip over a college campus just because its inhabitants are mostly healthy and young, but one could also say that college campuses are haunted not only by the dead. Being, as they are, inhabited by young adults who stay only a short time, and for the most part don’t return, college campuses play host to an endless parade of souls through the place, with not much but fading memories of them left behind after their diplomas have been taken away. No matter how vivid those years seem at the time, they’re brief and liminal. It’s a threshold time. A time between times. A ghost is someone or something that’s neither in this place nor the other. What better definition is there of those years between childhood and adulthood that so many spend in college?”
Although I did not enjoy The Raising as much as In a Perfect World and was not as connected to the characters nearly as well, I do recommend this as an engrossing mystery that is difficult to put down and will satisfyingly fill 5-6 hours, even if not remembered long in the future.
Interested in winning a free copy? Drop me a comment below and I will choose a lucky winner by the weekend!
Interested in other opinions?
Tuesday, March 15th: red headed book child
Wednesday, March 16th: Books Like Breathing
Thursday, March 17th: Life in the Thumb
Wednesday, March 23rd: In the Next Room
Thursday, March 24th: Life In Review
Friday, March 25th: Book Club Classics!
Wednesday, March 30th: Amusing Reviews
Tuesday, April 5th: Jenn’s Bookshelves
Wednesday, April 6th: Satisfaction for Insatiable Readers
Thursday, April 7th: Wordsmithonia
Friday, April 8th: Proud Book Nerd
As always, you make me want to read this one, too. Enter me please. Thank you
Sounds intriguing. Would love to read this book.
I enjoyed Kasischke’s book “The Life Before Her Eyes” and would love to read “The Raising”. Thanks for the great review!
Thanks for the giveaway and review. I also enjoyed the passage from the ending materials you included. I now want to read this and IN A PERFECT WORLD.
I would like to read this! Thank you!
Sounds exciting! Thanks for the giveaway.
Sounds like a great mystery. I would love to read it. Please enter me. Thanks!
sounds good…i have to look for her other book now too!
I know I say this all the time, but…oh my gosh, this is my kind of book! Please enter me in the giveaway!!!
Yay! and Happy Friday:)
~Renee
This sounds like a book I would really love. Thanks again.
Love spooky stories & this one fits the bill…please enter me, thanks.
ruthiekb72ATyahooDOTcom
Looks good!! I would like a copy.
I think this book sounds amazaing and cant wait to get my hands on a copy. Please include me in your giveaway.
Thanks
Sounds interesting… thanks for the giveaway.
I workded six years on a college campus. Some of the kids were just here to get away from home. Others to party and a rare few to actually learn. But one thing in common was they all touched you emotionally in some way or another.
I would love to read this book for the similarities and the correlations to my own experiences with the kids. laura
This sounds like a “must” read sure to be exciting. Please enter me in your giveaway! Thanks!
I was completely captivated by this book when I read it – means I should probably read her earlier works! I also would have loved a bit more exploration of the fascination of death, but for what I got I was very pleased.
No need to enter me; I already read the book.
Thanks for the review! Please include me.
OOOOH. Sounds haunting and mysterious! Count me in!
Thanks for giving this one a try. Too bad it didn’t live up to your expectations, but like you said, it is a very different book than the other one you read by the same author.
Really sound interesting. Would love to read it.
This wasn’t one of my favorites of the year either. I just could not connect with the story or the characters. Thanks for the honest review.