Lurking in the depths of the caverns known as Ephraim’s Echo, a vampire exists. Generation upon generation, it preys upon the women who find themselves drawn to it: practical, unimaginative Katy who finds herself embroiled in an affair with a minister; Nora, wife and mother, who longs for something more than an isolated farming life with her writer husband; rebellious Eileen, who escapes her rural life only to be drawn back into the arms of the vampire; and Marilyn, who in searching for her long-missing mother finds an ancient darkness.
From the moment I
began reading Ephraim's Echo, I wanted to give it five stars. You will see,
however, I have not rated it at all.
Teresa Perrin is
a writer of rare talent; her use of words is extraordinary. She takes a very
familiar story, weaves time and characters together skillfully, and has drawn
an easily recognized setting from sparse description. Ephraim’s Echo should be
excellent.
If you enjoy
being told a story, and if you are notoriously afraid of shadows in dark
corners, you will enjoy it from beginning to end. Her writing style is an
artform.
But there is
nothing new in this telling of the vampire myth. Successive female characters
bring nothing generational to their part in the play. The supporting cast of
men is indistinguishable one from another. They are all protective of their
vague female counterpart, except for sporadic lapses into domestic violence.
The vampire is the most sedate, non-threatening creature ever imagined, seeping
in through windows or sighing in his cave.
This is not a
story you experience, only one you watch through entirely unmoved and
disinterested eyes of the narrator. I wanted to feel the horror with the
characters. I was given instead Death’s world-weary witness of the same
struggle ensuing generation after generation.
The cast of main
characters tends to blur, and the situation is not helped by the interspersing
of unrelated vignettes on the deaths of complete strangers. I read Ephraim’s
Echo to the end because I selected it for review. If I had not, I would have
put it aside, reluctantly, by a third of the way through.
About Teresa Perrin: Teresa earned a BFA in Filmic Writing, graduating Magna Cum Laude, and a Master of Arts in Humanities from CSU Dominguez Hills. She began at a monthly news publication for English language learners, where she was a writer, editor, and eventually managing editor. Teresa has worked extensively as a freelance educational writer and editor, graphic designer and works as a freelance designer and artist. Her interests include science, photography, art, literature, and philosophy.
Teresa currently lives in Alameda, California, where she enjoys walking by the San Francisco Bay.
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