Independent reviews about this book
This
Everywoman dives into a fantastical world to explore mysterious
inner experiences.
Domenico Corna’s spellbinding third book and second novel,
Gipsy Lake, explores philosophy in a compelling, nuanced
way. In a nameless country, fearful Helen has an out-ofbody
experience while flying over Gipsy Lake in her brother’s
airplane. Compelled to get to the root of this mystical
occurrence, she returns to camp for a week by the lakeside, and
there she finds her sense of self called into question as she
comes upon a strange, nameless community of farmers whose
inhabitants claim to be several hundred years old; some even
remember the Spanish Inquisition. Are the people lying, or do
they hold the answers Helen seeks?
In
any case, Helen calls this incident “a momentary liberation of
the mind.” Similarly, this novel brings about a feeling of
freedom from conventions. Only the lake gets a proper name in
the book; by never identifying Helen’s nationality or naming
other landmarks, the author lends the story an eerie
timelessness often associated with folktales.
The trope of the ancient inhabitants who never seem to age
recalls the tradition of Fairyland, where time moves slower than
in the human world. Those who dwell near Gipsy Lake speak of
being driven out of everywhere they try to settle, like the
biblical Jews who search for a homeland. By combining mythic and
biblical tropes, Corna manages to make his story simultaneously
familiar and mysterious.
In
a refreshing departure from the norm, the author gives the role
of the Everyman character to a woman. Helen represents the
seeker in all of us. The chief conflict in the story is
existential and internal, as Helen tries to figure out the best
way to live her life. Everyone must forge her or his own path,
and Corna wraps this conundrum into one woman’s search for
meaning in her life.
Although Helen goes on an
arduous physical and mental journey during which she learns many
philosophical truths, this heady novel contains all the suspense
of a high-octane thriller because Helen’s character and her
philosophical discoveries remain relatable. For example, a
character offers her a clever twist on the notion that all one
needs to live happily are the resources within oneself:
“Everything is in you! And don’t be so pessimistic about life;
you’re hurting yourself…Think of building up and not tearing
down.”
The story falters slightly when it strays from Helen’s point of view into the perspectives of secondary characters for short periods of time. Near the conclusion, the narration changes from third-person omniscient to the first-person point of view of a minor character. The close of the book would have been more moving if the end had been seen from Helen’s perspective.
Still, these missteps do not detract from the overall eerie, fantastical world painted in Gipsy Lake.
Jill Allen
Clarion Review
Corna
offers a fantastical novel about a fearful girl and the
strange events that help her find herself. Corna’s novel centers
on an uplifting message about conquering fear, and it reads more
like a folk tale than a contemporary novel.
Kirkus Reviews
Shiny Lake
Introduction
Part One
Part Two
Part Three
Part Four
Other Works