The Oracle Glass and I got off to a bad start. The book opens with five pages (ok maybe three) of characters and for me, that is never a good thing. The sad fact is that I just do not have the patience to hold the names of fifty different characters in my head, especially when those names change during the course of the novel, and when those fifty different names are also French. Keeping track of those names on a kindle is also problematic. With a physical book it would be easy to go back and forwards between the list of characters but in an e-book it's a more convoluted process.By the time I had half-heartedly skimmed diligently read through the list I was already feeling tired and I confess that I approached chapter one with a sense of foreboding. This may have contributed to my first impression of the dialogue being stilted and over written. Having just reread it, I'm not entirely sure why I felt that way, but whatever it was, I moved into chapter two with reluctance. Fortunately, from there things picked up and while sometimes I lost track of the characters, this tale of seventeenth century France proved to be an enjoyable one.The story is told from the perspective of Genevieve Pasquiers, a young woman who escapes a desperate home life and is swept into a fantastic world of witches and fortune tellers. Her ability to accurately see the future in her oracle glass, and some excellent marketing, soon make her the darling of Paris' scheming and power hungry aristocracy. It is a world where fortunes are rapidly made and lost, patronage conferred and withdrawn and love is given and taken for all the wrong reasons. The story is rendered all the more interesting by the fact that it is largely based on historical figures. Their lives and (mis)deeds were documented during a series of high profile witch trials.Genevieve, and her alter ego, the Marquise de Morville, are incredibly well drawn. She is consistent and well developed over the course of the story. She is believable and feels authentic. The world of her powerful patron, La Voisin is also well drawn. The novel provides a fascinating insight into a secret society of women who serviced the aristocracy whilst at the same time helping their own. These were women who had powers that they both exploited and satirised. In doing so they both acknowledged society's doubts about the services that they provided and shielded themselves from prosecution.The one element that sits awkwardly are the interspersed chapters from the perspective of La Reynie and Desgrez of the Paris police. While their attempts to bring down the society of witches provides necessary tension, stylistically the chapters sit oddly in the book and jar the reader from the natural flow of the story.The ending is also extremely unsatisfying. Whilst you clearly understand all that has unfolded and how things are going to turn out it feels like the story stops mid sentence: just an extra page or two would have made all the difference.On the whole it's a good read - that is if you like 17th century historical novels about witches, populated by a cast of thousands...
My husband says i'm not allowed to give this book four stars because i very nearly put it down halfway through and then complained about the ending. So i'd give it three and a half, because i do think it's a really good book, despite my grumbling. I didn't love the super-corrupt atmosphere of Louis XIV's court and i had a hard time keeping the dozens of often multi-French-named characters straight in my mind, but i did love the main character Genevieve, as well as her love interest. They were a really great pair once they finally quit being dumb, and i enjoyed their interactions immensely.The ending is one of those somewhat ambiguous open ends that allows you to hope, if you're an optimistic person, that the story really does conclude the way the characters think it will. But if you're paying attention and if you think about it, and if you're more of the realist/pessimist persuasion like i am, you realize that it most probably does not. So, first it shocked me, and then it confused me, and then i felt kind of sad about it, and finally i've decided that it was good for exactly that reason. If it had just been a straightforward ending, the book as a whole would've been a lot less remarkable. This ending has kept me thinking about the story for a long time.I didn't love The Oracle Glass as much as i thought i would love a book based on actual historical events about a slightly magical and very smart young free-thinking Parisian woman (good lord, could this be any further up my alley?), but i'm still glad i picked it up for $2 on barnes & noble and gave it a read. Well worth it.
Do You like book The Oracle Glass (1995)?
i don't KNOW how i feel about this. on the one hand, i like Genevieve, the premise is fantastic, i enjoyed most of the story, and also spoiler alert two of the witches are LESBIANS. but there are also parts that just didn't do it for me. i know Genevieve is only a teenager but the romance drama, omg, please save me from it--and d'Urbec transforms from basically the nerdy philosopher in the corner to suddenly a suave genius, lol okay. and this is based on real stuff so maybe this is accurate, but i found it hard to believe that if these women really had ALL this power, they'd spend most of it on fights between the king's mistresses.... anyway, overall i liked it??
—Journey
My favorite of Judith Merkle Riley's books. I read this in junior high, and managed to severely unsettle a number of teachers with my in-depth knowledge of poisons and their effects. This novel introduces us to the dark side of the Sun King's court, a world rife with backstabbing, social-climbing, Satanism, and magic. Our guide is a young girl with a gift for seeing the future, abandoned by her family and re-made into a society fortune-teller. Her mentor is La Voisin, an amused and amusing woman who runs Paris's underground trade in poisons, abortions, and black magic. Riley puts a humorous twist on this grim subject matter, and keeps us laughing throughout. The heroine is appealing and intelligent, the hero is adorable, La Voisin is irresistably likeable despite her amorality, and a number of smaller characters - like the housemaid possessed by a snobbish demon - steal the show. A must for any lover of historical fiction.
—Kate Quinn
Aside from the great attention to historical details, this story left me with very little depth and meaning. The story took way too long to get going (about at least 200 pages in), and then there was a lot of foreshadowing throughout and backtracking (I guess so the reader would stay on track). Then, the love story took over from the main plot for awhile (because, every novel needs a love story, front and centre). Now, we are about 350 pages in, then the quick resolution, where everything is tide together. But... You, the reader are left with the final image from the oracle glass to figure out for yourself!!!! It is up to your imagination!!! What!!! I have invested over 400 pages. This story is an account of actual events that took place. The author gas given us, in the final chapter a historical calendar of factual events. I would like a firmer ending. Every story and plot line in the book was played out, even if it was to a predictable ending, why not the full ending. Ultimately I was left slightly high and completely dry... And frustrated. Very disappointed!! "3/5" (mostly just for the documented historical events)
—Mike Mills
