The Visionist

July 8, 2013
Urquhart has written for Vogue and Allure, yet her debut historical novel features writing of a more restrained sort. Set in 1842 in a small enclave in Massachusetts called City of Hope, the slow-to-build narrative takes a jarring peek into the segregated Shaker way of life where the “wicked ways of the World” are shunned. Told from three disparate but oddly similar-sounding points of view—teenage Polly, who burned down the family farm to escape her father’s sexual abuse; Simon Pryor, a private investigator and “expert in incendiaries” hired to get to the bottom of the crime by a wealthy entrepreneur interested in the land; and Sister Charity, a particularly prim and self-effacing member of the covenant who watches over Polly after she and her brother are dumped there by their fleeing mother—conventional cultlike behavior and the espousing of Shaker beliefs (“flesh bonds are forged in the fires of carnal sin”) abounds. Though Polly’s christening as a “Visionist” soon brings notoriety to the community and Pryor’s ardent quest to uncover the truth about who set the blaze barrels closer to resolution, the temperature of the increasingly intertwined plot fails to rise above a simmer despite some well-placed twists. Think a cadre of easily provoked characters held back by unquestioning faith—but in need of Waco’s fireworks.

The three narrators of this story are perfectly cast. Ellen Archer, as Sister Charity, brings to life a teen whose only family has been the Shakers. She displays a range of emotions that continually shift between unthinking devotion, doubt, and anger. Ali Ahn portrays Polly, reflecting the detachment she feels from the brutality of her past--she killed her abusive father and set fire to the family farm before coming to the Shaker community. Peter Ganim, as Simon Pryor, brings to life a disillusioned man who long ago sold his soul to the devil but who digs deeper into his better self to find answers that bring redemption. N.E.M. © AudioFile 2014, Portland, Maine