"When Runner Coghill fell through the ceiling, she interrupted what we can only call a domestic quarrel."

I submit to you three summaries/reviews of Sean Dixon's The Last Days of the Lacuna Cabal in verse -- haiku, limerick and free verse. I am most definitely not a poet so this is obviously part of a challenge!

***
A group of women,
From a story they seek hope
They find self instead.
***

***
There was a book club in Montreal
One fragile member took a fall.
They read ancient tales
And ranted against males
And had a strange time one and all.
***

***
A young women's book club with an identity crisis --
A member who isn't young and one who pretends to be female,
A little brother constantly around and
Two men who are recruited unwillingly.
Something is not right.

A member has died, dynamics have changed.
Her twin sister manifests the illness
And wins the group over to a story
Written on ten stone tablets from ancient times.
Someone wants control.

The story is translated but the group needs more,
To see the actions portrayed in the real world.
Some unwitting victims are brought into the fold,
One looking for love and the other for identity.
Some lines are crossed.

Things go wrong and feelings are hurt.
Two members leave and the others embark on improbable journeys.
A robot leads the way, searching for the boy.
Everyone discovers who they ought to be.
Somehow it works out.
***

The idea for the poetic review comes from Jenners' Take a Chance Challenge. I didn't think I was going to participate in this one but this book really lent itself to a bit of creativity. It would have been just as difficult to write a regular review post for this novel! When I started the book, I thought that I wouldn't end up liking it. However, Dixon's plot kept me curious as to what would happen with this group and I stuck with it. Once I completed the book, I was able to appreciate it for the whole. I enjoyed the Canadian setting and the variety of personalities. This novel apparently started out as a play and I definitely think it has a staged feeling to it. This is one of those books that is hard to categorize and must just be read to be understood!

Avoiding the book club drama,
K


Support this site and buy The Last Days of the Lacuna Cabal on Amazon or find it at your local library.