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.
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