A Vision of Light

The other evening, before meeting a friend for dinner, I had a few minutes to wander through a bookstore. I was looking for something different to read, and came across A Vision of Light by Judith Merkle Riley.

I did my normal check on any new book that comes my way — I opened it up at random and read a few paragraphs. It was well written, and I was moderately interested to see that it was set in the middle ages with a female protagonist.

The book was entertaining and well put together, but I don't see myself buying the next one in the series.

Merkle Riley is correct that the middle ages were unbelievably misogynistic, and she portrays the worst case scenarios with great flair. The author sets up the protagonist, Margaret, as a saint, but also tries to make her a real person by pointing out her faults. (Quite literally as a saint, incidentally; Margaret communes with God.)

All the book's characters come across as flat, though, including the protagonist. They seem like modern day stereotypes dropped into the middle ages and then draped with fourteenth century costumes and ideas. This doesn't sit well as many (though not all) of the male characters are so awful, whereas the women tend to be long-suffering martyrs. It seems to me that the author isn't playing fair.

The problem may not lie so much with the book, though, as the reader. I seldom like melodramas; and Vision of Light is definitely a melodrama. This book left me with a vague feeling of irritation and disappointment as I don't find the world of melodramas — with its heroes and villains — convincing.

Vision of Light is a good read, and it certainly held my attention. It's not a book to be read to understand people better, though it does dramatically argue against a misogynistic society.