Black inked pearl: A girl's quest

When I received the email invite to read Black-inked pearl: A girl’s quest by Ruth Finnegan, I was intrigued by the description: “An epic romance about the naive Irish girl Kate and her mysterious lover, whom she rejects in panic and then spends her life seeking.” A story about a lost love and a lifetime spent searching for it again. The opening chapter was breathtaking and I loved the imagery of the search, turning back to find your love has gone. Unfortunately, I was unable to finish it.

I’m sad when a book gets a place on my “Did Not Finish” list. It’s a list that no author wants their book to be on. I read 11 chapters, 75 pages and I was lost. Hopelessly lost. According to the book’s Goodreads page, the story is the interlacing of between this world and another. The story did flow like a dream with ambiguity and odd occurrences that often happen in dreams. The publisher, Garn Press, regard the book as a “rare work of genius, a novel that is unparalleled in modern times on dream, dementia, and truth.”  The classic themes of passion, troubles, torment and grief in the novel are reminiscent of Homer, Soranzo’s Adamo and Milton’s Paradise Lost, Shakespeare’s sonnets and James Joyce. Maybe this is why I was unable to finish because despite reading Shakespeare’s sonnets in high school and I have never read these classic works.

I’m sorry, Ms. Finnegan, you captured me with the opening chapter. I loved the line “But his figure lost in the mist, her footmarks, the way, lost in the water.” It sent chills through me. Sadly, I couldn’t follow the story. I wanted to so bad because the language was so beautiful. I couldn’t. If you are a fan of or even familiar with the classic works mentioned above, you may enjoy this. I might look in to these classic works myself and give this book another go. For now, it has to be shelved. A sad day for a bookworm.