It鈥檚 no accident that the narrator of Carol LaHines鈥檚 second novel, 鈥淭he Vixen Amber Halloway,鈥� is a literature professor named Ophelia. That was also the name of a woman who had her heart broken and was driven to madness by the title character in Shakespeare鈥檚 鈥淗amlet.鈥�
When we first meet LaHines鈥檚 Ophelia, she is being interviewed by a prison psychologist. Ophelia鈥檚 heart has been broken, too, and it is evident that it has led her to do something terrible. Her field of study, we soon learn, was Dante Alighieri鈥檚 鈥淒ivine Comedy,鈥� a 14th century narrative poem about the horrifying wages of sin.
Obsessed with her work, Ophelia had no time for dating, so she was well into her 30s when a friend fixed her up with Andy, a medical equipment salesman. Although they had little in common, they fell in love and married. But five years later, she discovered he was cheating with a young woman named Amber. At first, he denied the affair, but not long after he filed for divorce and declared his intention to marry his paramour.
鈥淚 have a hole in my heart the size of a shotgun wound,鈥� Ophelia says. Quoting Dante, she adds, 鈥淎bandon all hope, ye who enter here.鈥�
This is not the first time Ophelia was abandoned. When she was a child, her mother ran off with a car salesman, leaving the girl to be raised by her inconsolable, suicidal father.
鈥淭ime is not linear,鈥� she says, 鈥渂ut a tripwire, events we keep stumbling over again and again, nettles in the brain, thorns in the heart.鈥�
So Ophelia trolls Amber on the internet, spies on her and Andy for months, and even kills their dog. The novel grows increasingly chilling as Ophelia recounts her growing obsession, her towering rage, and her descent into madness, leading her to eventually do something far worse.
At times, she seems sorry for what she has done, but, at others, she makes excuses.
鈥淲ho has not experienced the haphazard cruelties of love?鈥� she asks. 鈥淲ho has not wished, fervently desired, for the new love interest to be simply gone, erased from your life?...
What would you do in my place?鈥�
LaHines鈥檚 writing borders on the lyrical when Ophelia recalls the joyful early years of her marriage, but when she confesses her sins, her voice is stilted and often emotionless.
In the end, her descent into delusion is complete.
鈥淥ne day, you and I will be together,鈥� she addresses the absent Andy. 鈥淵our hand firmly in my grasp.鈥�
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winner of the Mystery Writers of America鈥檚 Edgar Award, is the author of the Mulligan crime novels including 鈥淭he Dread Line.鈥�
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AP book reviews:
Bruce Desilva, The Associated Press
