Over Labor Day weekend, I managed to cram in one last Big
Book of the Summer (my 5th!), thanks to the Take Back Your Shelves
Readathon. I read The Many Lives of John Stone by Linda Buckley-Archer, a teen/YA novel that had been on my shelf
for far too long. I’m so glad I finally got to enjoy this unique and intriguing
novel that combines modern fiction with historical fiction.
Seventeen-year old Stella Park, known as Spark to friends
and family, is visiting her brother, Dan, in New York City. It’s the first time
she’s been outside of the UK (except for a day trip across the English
Channel), and she’s excited to visit Dan, who’s been enjoying his internship in
NYC. While there, she is introduced to John Stone, Dan’s employer who also
provided a charitable scholarship for him to attend private school. She feels
an instant connection with this man she’s never met before, and he invites her
to work at his home in the UK in a summer job, organizing old historical
documents and journals for him. Spark accepts and heads to Suffolk at the start
of summer break.
Spark’s chapters alternate with chapters about John. He is
an enigma, both to Spark as she starts her unusual summer job and to the
reader. He lives on a lovely but secluded estate called Stowney House with two
other people, Martha and Jacob. At first, Martha seems to Spark to be John’s
cook and housekeeper and Jacob appears to be the gardener, but Spark soon
notices that the three seem more like close friends than employer and
employees. They live a very isolated existence at the house with its beautiful
gardens, though John travels for work. Stranger still, they live in a world
completely removed from the 21st century, with no electricity or
phones.
Meanwhile, as Spark begins to work to clean and organize the
shelves and shelves of dusty journals John has, the contents of one journal are
also included in some chapters. It starts in 1685 in Versailles, with a fifteen-year
old boy named Jean-Pierre, living with his father and brothers in the shadow of
Louis XIV, known as the Sun King, and his extravagant home, gardens, and court.
Jean-Pierre has a difficult time, as he is frequently bullied and beaten by his
older brothers.
The novel continues in this way, with chapters alternating between
Spark and John in the present day, and Jean-Pierre back in the court of the Sun
King at Versailles in the 1600’s. Those chapters at Versailles bring the
long-past decadent world to life, with its formal customs, elaborate clothing,
and wealthy surroundings. Jean-Pierre loves to walk among the gardens and
fountains in Versailles and pines after a beautiful girl named Isabelle, whose
family is far above his in position.
In the present day, details of John Stone’s mysterious life
are gradually revealed, as Spark begins to slowly piece together clues from
what she sees around her at Stowney House, though the relationship between its
residents continues to puzzle her. There are hidden secrets in this story that
even John doesn’t know, so the characters are figuring out its mysteries along
with the reader.
This original story was perfect for a readathon weekend
because I was completely immersed in these worlds, both at Versailles in the
past and at Stowney House in the present. The author weaves a compelling story
that pulls the reader in deeper and deeper. Though I had an inkling of some of
the secrets in the novel, there were still plenty of plot twists that surprised
me. This novel took me on a journey to the past that I thoroughly enjoyed.
529 pages, Simon & Schuster
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