The Biblio Blogazine

The Sinful Life of Lucy Burns by Elizabeth Leiknes
ISBN: 978-1-890862-62-6
Fiction, 167 pages
Bancroft Press

Review copy courtesy of Bancroft Press

Interview with author (a must read!)

I have to relate how excited I was to learn that this book was written by a local author. She is the first of others I hope to read and review here as part of Galleysmith’s Literary Road Trip. After meeting Elizabeth for an interview, I can already tell, the other authors have a real tough act to follow.

The first thing I noted about this novel, and one that I had to think hard over, is it’s genre. I’ve never had such a hard time figuring out where this book belongs other than under the great-granddaddy of them all: Fiction.

There is romance, but it isn’t the focus. There is paranormal, but again, not truly what this is about. Chick lit? Probably the closest as the protagonist is a woman.

However, when you come down to it, it’s about hope and redemption. Common themes that affect us all. I asked the author about this and loved her answer.

Lucy’s predicament needed to be dismal in order for us to fear for her, but at the end of the day the hope that Lucy will find a way out, find peace in all areas of her life, is what makes readers keep reading. I think that’s what keeps all of us going: that no matter what we’ve done, tomorrow is always a new day. We can wallow in it and become a victim, or confront it and make a change.

Lucy Burns just wants to be like everyone else. Something we’ve probably said to ourselves at one time or another. The problem? At the age of eleven she unwittingly makes a deal with “Whom It May Concern”. And yes, it is that kind of deal.

Upon turning eighteen she is expected to begin holding up her end of the bargain. So then, what does one do when becoming a Facilitator to hell? Sure, she’s ageless and beautiful, but she can never see her family again, have a boyfriend, a family of her own. She must spend eternity damning people to hell.

. . . I began to feel like a one-dimensional version of my former self. I’d become a beautiful woman wearing beautiful clothes driving a beautiful car. I was Lucy, the cardboard cutout. And there was no end in sight.

Quite a job description and a helluva predicament. (Couldn’t resist that one, sorry).

This is not what she wanted, regardless of the perks. She misses her life, or at least what it should be. Seeing it happen all around her, reminded constantly by her best friend and young son of what she is missing, she feels trapped by a bad choice and an ever increasing sense of hopelessness.

Until she meets one man who gives her a glimmer of hope, and another who makes her believe redemption is possible.

All good plots offer a challenge and keep the reader caring about what happens, hoping it will be resolved in a way that will leave them satisfied. This is Lucy, and the author’s opportunity, to take that chance  and make it work. Both do, and take the reader on a wild ride, and at one point, quite literally.

I have to tell you, this book is not as dark as it sounds. Laced throughout are passages and moments that had me laughing out loud. So much so, that while watching my son bowl I drew stares. Have you ever been in a bowling alley during league play? Yeah, I was laughing that hard.

Lucy is special. We all are in our own way. This book is about finding that uniqueness, embracing it, owning it, and using it as the foundation for making our lives better. Hope is part of this, as well as love. It’s these two things that in the end, when faced with the ultimate choice, we rely upon to help us make the right one. Or so we hope.

This is as much of a spoiler you’re going to get.

The ending is unexpected and expected at the same time. I had to go back and re-read it because I was so excited, I flew through the narrative much too quickly.

I did feel that some things are left unresolved or seemingly forgotten, but this is so minor I feel I would have to point it out for most to notice.

For a debut novel, Leiknes has garnered some well-deserved attention. I wish it were more. As I said at the end of the interview I posted, I wish her much success and hope to see her other novels soon. I think the highest compliment I can pay her is that no matter how long it takes is fine with me. She is worth the wait.

Elizabeth Leiknes grew up in rural Iowa and can make 37 different dishes featuring corn. Her most recent accomplishments include publishing an article entitled “Writing Spaces: Expanding the One Story House” in The Quarterly and completing two other novels, Black-Eyed Susan and The Understory.

She lives near Lake Tahoe with her husband, two young sons, and a mentally ill cat.