Review of Deceptive Calm
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Emily Astillberry
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- Latest Review: Deceptive Calm by Patricia Skipper
Review of Deceptive Calm
[Following is a volunteer review of "Deceptive Calm" by Patricia Skipper.]
Deceptive Calm is a wonderfully woven, intricate, passionate story; a deep dive into the fascinating and colourful life of Vanessa Condon, a Black orphan with light skin, who was brought up by a nun in an orphanage in the deep south of the 1960s. It explores the difficult issues of race, identity, sex and class as well as bigotry, sexism, racism and abuse, and doesn't shy away from the darker side of humanity.
Vanessa was never adopted from the orphanage, and she blames it on the colour of her skin. After losing Sister Rosalie, her heart is broken by her first love, and she survives a horrific medical ordeal. She becomes desperate to leave her old life behind, and she succeeds in stealing the identity of a deceased White baby, passing herself off as White and moving to California, leaving behind everything that she has ever known. The only constant in her life is her best friend, Trisha, who keeps in touch throughout all of the twists and turns of Vanessa's life and always has Vanessa's back.
Patricia Skipper has created some wonderful, rich characters in Deceptive Calm, from Sister Rosalie, the nun who raised Vanessa, and Dr. Hale, the surgeon who saved her best friend's life after an attack by the Ku Klux Klan, right through to the determined local law enforcement officers who put down their surfboards to try to solve the covered-up crimes at the end of the book. Skipper's characters leap off the page, and I defy any reader not to fall in love with Sister Rosalie or truly despise the irredeemable villains of the book. I was hooked from the beginning and found it to be a thrilling page-turner that I couldn't put down. The only character that I had a little trouble getting behind was Barry, Vanessa's first boyfriend. I'm afraid that I couldn't quite understand why she found him so hard to get over. He seemed a little lacking to me.
It is a shame that the blurb gives far too much of the book away. It really leaves very little for the reader to discover for themselves, which ruins the journey for me a little. I also felt that the ending was rushed, as if Skipper ran out of time or words and had to cram too much action into the final few chapters, but, that aside, I thoroughly enjoyed the story and was very impressed with the almost impeccable editing.
Deceptive Calm is harrowing at times. There are scenes of violence, discrimination, sex and abuse that some readers may find upsetting. I would recommend it only to a mature, resilient audience. However, I found it to be gripping and enlightening on a period of American history and culture that is truly fascinating. Vanessa's struggle with identity and acceptance is incredibly sympathetic.
Overall, I have given this book a rating of 4 out of 5 stars. It was almost a 5 out of 5, but I couldn't quite give it a perfect score due to the issues that I have mentioned. Despite not being quite perfect, I would certainly highly recommend this book to people from all backgrounds and lovers of good books.
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Deceptive Calm
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Deceptive Calm is a wonderfully woven, intricate, passionate story; a deep dive into the fascinating and colourful life of Vanessa Condon, a Black orphan with light skin, who was brought up by a nun in an orphanage in the deep south of the 1960s. It explores the difficult issues of race, identity, sex and class as well as bigotry, sexism, racism and abuse, and doesn't shy away from the darker side of humanity.
Vanessa was never adopted from the orphanage, and she blames it on the colour of her skin. After losing Sister Rosalie, her heart is broken by her first love, and she survives a horrific medical ordeal. She becomes desperate to leave her old life behind, and she succeeds in stealing the identity of a deceased White baby, passing herself off as White and moving to California, leaving behind everything that she has ever known. The only constant in her life is her best friend, Trisha, who keeps in touch throughout all of the twists and turns of Vanessa's life and always has Vanessa's back.
Patricia Skipper has created some wonderful, rich characters in Deceptive Calm, from Sister Rosalie, the nun who raised Vanessa, and Dr. Hale, the surgeon who saved her best friend's life after an attack by the Ku Klux Klan, right through to the determined local law enforcement officers who put down their surfboards to try to solve the covered-up crimes at the end of the book. Skipper's characters leap off the page, and I defy any reader not to fall in love with Sister Rosalie or truly despise the irredeemable villains of the book. I was hooked from the beginning and found it to be a thrilling page-turner that I couldn't put down. The only character that I had a little trouble getting behind was Barry, Vanessa's first boyfriend. I'm afraid that I couldn't quite understand why she found him so hard to get over. He seemed a little lacking to me.
It is a shame that the blurb gives far too much of the book away. It really leaves very little for the reader to discover for themselves, which ruins the journey for me a little. I also felt that the ending was rushed, as if Skipper ran out of time or words and had to cram too much action into the final few chapters, but, that aside, I thoroughly enjoyed the story and was very impressed with the almost impeccable editing.
Deceptive Calm is harrowing at times. There are scenes of violence, discrimination, sex and abuse that some readers may find upsetting. I would recommend it only to a mature, resilient audience. However, I found it to be gripping and enlightening on a period of American history and culture that is truly fascinating. Vanessa's struggle with identity and acceptance is incredibly sympathetic.
Overall, I have given this book a rating of 4 out of 5 stars. It was almost a 5 out of 5, but I couldn't quite give it a perfect score due to the issues that I have mentioned. Despite not being quite perfect, I would certainly highly recommend this book to people from all backgrounds and lovers of good books.
******
Deceptive Calm
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Latest Review: Deceptive Calm by Patricia Skipper
