Shadows of the Past (Book) - 1/6/2013 4:31:40 PM
Over the past few days I had the delight to read Carmen Stefanescu’s novel ‘Shadows of the past’. A novel that beautifully weaves together tales of the past and modern times.
Anne, the heroine, is a successful businesswoman who tried to rekindle her relationship with Neil after a two-year separation. They leave for a one-week trip during which they camp in a strange forest. A dream Anne has leads to the discovery of human bones and a bejeweled cross in the hollow of a tree. The discovery opens the door to the life of Genevieve, a nun from medieval England, but also stirs an evil spirit that lurks in the forest and hunts the ruins of an abbey nearby.
Although much different in personalities, Genevieve and Anne are connected in a way that the reader will want to discover, avidly reading to the last page thanks to Carmen Stefanescu’s wonderful writing. A novel that I couldn’t put down, touching, tragic, suspenseful, simply compelling.
Carmen Stefanescu’s novel is a riveting story that will make the reader fall in love with its enticing mystery, skillfully blending elements of love and hatred, magic and superstitions, murder and repentance. I gladly give it a FIVE STARS.
Shadows of the Past (Book) - 12/16/2012 7:41:40 AM
Carmen Stefanescu's Shadows of the Past was a great read that I enjoyed from the first page through the last sentence, that I was sorry to see end; I tried to savor this one, make it last, that's how entertaining a read it is. The author writes a tightly worded, intelligent, story, a story within a story, then and now, from a past that needed resolution in a modern day couple. The dreams and visions the protagonist, Anne, experienced set the stage for the unfolding of a story, brilliantly told, moving through her as a past life apparition, Genevieve. The character development of Anne and her partner Neil, and other story counterparts is really well done, but the star of he story is the tragic Genevieve, as if taken from the pages of Shakespeare, one can not imagine less unfortunate issues to befall a human being, and in counterpoint is the lusciously evil antagonist the Abbess, who you read page after page hoping she gets hers. The pages invite the reader in with a wanting to know what is going to happen to Anne, to Genevieve, and page after page as the tension builds the reader is not disappointed. This is an excellently crafted work, by an author who clearly knows how to write, who understands literature, and knows how to tell a compellingly great story. I loved this one.
