Amelia S. reviewed on 10/16/2005 + 80 more book reviews

Helpful Score: 4

More Than You Know was the first novel I read in one workday since, I think, These Is My Words more than a year ago. Hannah's narrative voice kept my attention in half of the chapters, and the sense of tragedy surrounding Claris's life kept my attention the other half of the time. Since Gutcheon chose to tell the stories in alternating chapters, she left me hanging again and again. . . so I kept reading, again and again. Claris's half of the story reminded me of the novel Drowning Ruth, and it was, indeed, just as irredeemably tragic (though I never finished Schwarz's book). Claris's story also reminded me of Angela Carter's retelling of the Lizzie Borden legend in her book Saints and Strangers. Hannah's story, thankfully, was fresh enough to carry the book past any similarities to others that I did not care for as well. At the end, I especially liked the character of Reverend Davidson, who believed in ghosts. Highly recommended.

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