ROBINS’S FOLLY is a captivating novel written in an easy, flowing style. From the first chapter, when Robin embarks on her fateful hike in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, Janice Coy’s prose is alive with the descriptive imagery of the wooded mountains and fully evokes the forest atmosphere. The awkwardness Robin feels with the other hikers is well-observed via her internal monologue–and her reminisces of Joel, her deceased husband, are profoundly moving. It is the seemingly trivial details that are so incredibly personal and, therefore, poignant. Through these memories, Joel is ably conjured up and exists almost as a secondary main character without becoming overly-sentimental.
The majority of ROBIN’S FOLLY mixes the genres of supernatural mystery and women’s fiction and it works well. The concept of Robin finding the hidden pool in the glade and experiencing its effects are enchanting and read like a grown-up fairy tale. The reason that the magical glade, on the whole, maintains credibility throughout the book is Robin. Her age and circumstance make her an unlikely protagonist and she is refreshingly written in a non-tokenistic way. She is likeable but has flaws and these reveal themselves in subtle layers as the novel progresses; she can be stubborn and frustrating, but her foibles inject dimension. While undertaking the physical journey with her, the reader also gains a keen sense of her emotional development. She is fully investable as a character and, therefore, the glade is believable. There is also a sub-plot contained in the story involving Margaret, the nurse who treats Robin at the Hospital after her rescue and James, Margaret’s brother. The reader is given hints that James might not be all he appears and this dramatic twist makes the book hard to put down when Robin and James set out for their hike to find the glade.
However, the descriptive detailing that is so adept at wonderfully realizing the setting occasionally detracts. When Robin is back home, they become superfluous; the reader is almost privy to her every nuance and it does slow the pace a touch. It is a difficult book to draw to a satisfactory conclusion but Coy handles it fairly admirably. The decision to invoke a gently spiritual angle was clever, as was shifting the narrative from the book outwards to the reader and ending on a contemplative note.
ROBIN’S FOLLY is a highly original and engaging read that deals poignantly with the nature of grief, the acceptance of loss and the renewing of old faiths.
~Rose Auburn for IndieReader