I have an unreasoned preference for reading in the third person. Maybe it is because when you are reading in third person, you are going to get a rounded perspective of the main character. You're going to recognize a bias, or an angle; and you're going to get a feel for the character based on outside observations by the other characters. The hazard is that first person gives rise to the unreliable narrator; everything you see, hear, taste . . . everything you experience between the book covers, is slanted thru the perception and voice of the speaker; and you as reader are so firmly entrenched within that self that sometimes it is difficult to know just who that "I" is. Reading in first person is just not something I normally choose to do. Fortunately, Jane Toombs has a gift of expression and description so that the first person voice becomes a fluent friend, and the reader easily falls into her shoes, uncomfortable though they may be.

Tower of Shadows is written in a traditional gothic style, in the perspective of the first person innocent in jeopardy. Our innocent Tina MacArthur begins her tale waking on her birthday four years after her "grandmother" died. Four years after her acceptance in a gypsy encampment. She takes a ritual bath that removes the dye from her skin and hair, leaving her a blonde gaje. Then Mala, the Learned, consults a book, to a chorus of clapping, excited Rom women, exclaiming over "the gaje book of a thousand wonders." Until this point, I thought this was going to be a traditional read, but then Mala holds up the book, saying, "This is the book the gaje consult to make their wishes come true. " Here I am expecting some literary version of Charmed's 'Book of Shadows,' and Mala says, "It is called the Catalogue of Sears and Roebuck."

I confess I laughed out loud. (I also read thru the rest of the book hoping for another laugh.)

It turns out that Tina is only part gypsy, but gypsy enough to have visions. Her gaje father placed her with a serving woman whom she'd believed to be her grandmother, and at her death she'd gone to seek refuge with the Rom. Now that she is of age, it is time to become Margaret, and enter a world that is completely foreign to her, one with mystery, death and deceit, which she is ill prepared to navigate.

The mystery is even deepened by the tarot on the cover. We see the Hanged Man; the hanged man has given everything up, sacrificed his all, and has nothing, but as the card is upside down it means a reversal; perhaps the sacrifice is not worth it. And beside this card is the Lovers card, which can mean everything from choice and doubt, to the obvious love and passion of lovers, to their fickleness. 'Tis a puzzlement, but a fitting one to this moody book. There are elements in here to please the paranormal fan; the sight, the tarot, mysterious foreshadowing, the man in gray. In Tower of Shadows,Jane Toombs brings the mystery to life, in a shadow world of dark strangers, where a lurking threat endangers a young women who only seeks her heritage and does not know who to trust or where to turn.

Reviewed by Allie
© February 2008