Middle Chapters, 10 - 19

[maude40]

I can't imagine, now that Noah is born, what horrors Eva has in store for Meridia and Daniel as to the raising of her grandson. What ways will she insinuate herself into the child's upbringing? It should be interesting, frustrating reading, as I'm sure I will want to throttle her as I read. Yvonne 

[Zeal]

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maude40 wrote:
I can't imagine, now that Noah is born, what horrors Eva has in store for Meridia and Daniel as to the raising of her grandson. What ways will she insinuate herself into the child's upbringing? It should be interesting, frustrating reading, as I'm sure I will want to throttle her as I read. Yvonne 

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Eva is one of the most horrible characters that I have encountered in a long time.  I can think of several "real" individuals that remind me of her.  You would think that Noah's birth would cause her to change her ways, but I don't think she has it in her.  The fact that Eva loves Daniel, but treats Meridia so poorly fascinates me also.  Why would she want to ruin Daniel's life by making those that he loves miserable?  I am sure it will not end with Noah.

[Bonnie824]

Daniels family is mean spiteful women, weak men, and a couple of easy victims. It is almost hard to feel bad for Meridia because she seems so clueless.

[libralady]

Why has Hannah appeared again, and why has she disappeared? Do you believe in her?

I don't believe that Hannah is real. But I don't think she is an "imaginary friend" either.  I think she is an extension of Meridia herself.  I think she "appears" when Meridia needs to do something that she does not think she is capable of doing.  Meridia would have never thought herself capable of walking up to strangers on the street introducing herself and ultimately inviting them to visit the shop.  But with the help of Hannah she was able to accomplish this as well as introduce herself to all of her neighbors.  "Hannah" gives her confidence in herself.  I think she disappears when Meridia has conquered whatever it is she is facing.

[AnnJE]

Yes, first impressions were accurate.  Something is going on in that house.  Eva is not Meridia's friend.  Meridia was forced to grow up fast.  Remember she is only 16 and lived in a house where it seems her parents didn't care about her - or were too concerned with their own inadequacies to pay any attention to her.

I think we will learn more about Ravenna and Gabriel - they are not what they seem to be either.  The scents tell us who is coming into the room/house.  I definitely associate scents with certain people - in a good way.

Hannah may be make-believe - coming on the scene when Meridia needs her the most.  But how can we explain the letters from her?  This is a town with lots of mystery.

I am really enjoying this book.  I am still curious about location and time but it matters less as I get more deeply involved in the story.

[daisy03]

I was really hoping that Meridia married into an excepting, loving family.  Guess I was a little off on that.  But I think the family dynamic helped Meridia grow as she began to look outside herself and stand up for the welfare of others, as she tried to take care of and stand up for Patina.

After living w/her husband's family I think Meridia began to see her family and home as a haven that she dearly missed and although there may not have been demonstrative love, I believe she still felt love, at least in comparison w/the in laws place....I personally began to see Ravenna as a savior and Gabriel as a more three dimensional person, who is shown taking a more active role in the family.  I still don't like the way he treat Meridia when she was a child.....

As far as scents in relation to the story the roses I feel obviously go w/the bees, I'm not a big fan of rose scent, not sure why???.....verbena smells fresh and clean, comforting...even though scent evokes strong memories most of my are associated w/times and occasions rather that a specific person, except for Juicy Fruit which scent always reminds my of my grandmother, God bless her!

The house on Willow Lane seems full of promise, a new start, a diamond in the rough. And when the business threatens to fail, Meridia finds Hannah there to help her figure out what needs to be done in order to save it.  I believe in her, just not sure why no one else sees her......

So far in this book there have been three births discussed, Meridia's, Noah's, and Permony.  Each birth was long and difficult and in the case of Meridia and Permony, neither seen to have had a close relationship w/their mother.  I think your birth is definitely the beginning of your own personal mythology.  The circumstances around a birth have always had associations with the future.

 Just my thoughts

[ponie]

Eva: evil, envious, erroneous, egregious

Elias: eclipsed, eroded, emboldened?

Malin: malicious, mean, malevolent, maybe not!

Permony: passive, preferred (by Meridia and Elias)

Daniel: dense, deluded, divided, delayed, desperate, defending, daddy

Meridia: manipulative, mathematical, maturing, managing, mommy

Ravenna: rescuing, ravaging, revengeful

Gabriel: galling, grieving, goes to bat (for Meridia), guardian, grandfather

Patina: pawn, pitiful, pathetic, peacekeeping

Gabilan: gabby

Pilar: prostitute?, prophet?, poisonous?

Hannah: helpful, here?

Noah: new 

(In the Genesis account, Noah, whom God called "a righteous man", saves his family in the ark.  Can this Noah save this family??? )

And this is interesting... 

In Latter-day Saint theology, the archangel Gabriel lived in his mortal life as the patriarch Noah. Gabriel and Noah are regarded as the same individual; Noah being his mortal name and Gabriel being his heavenly name. (from wikipedia)

[mv5ocean]

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ponie wrote:

Eva: evil, envious, erroneous, egregious

Elias: eclipsed, eroded, emboldened?

Malin: malicious, mean, malevolent, maybe not!

Permony: passive, preferred (by Meridia and Elias)

Daniel: dense, deluded, divided, delayed, desperate, defending, daddy

Meridia: manipulative, mathematical, maturing, managing, mommy

Ravenna: rescuing, ravaging, revengeful

Gabriel: galling, grieving, goes to bat (for Meridia), guardian, grandfather

Patina: pawn, pitiful, pathetic, peacekeeping

Gabilan: gabby

Pilar: prostitute?, prophet?, poisonous?

Hannah: helpful, here?

Noah: new 

(In the Genesis account, Noah, whom God called "a righteous man", saves his family in the ark.  Can this Noah save this family??? )

And this is interesting... 

In Latter-day Saint theology, the archangel Gabriel lived in his mortal life as the patriarch Noah. Gabriel and Noah are regarded as the same individual; Noah being his mortal name and Gabriel being his heavenly name. (from wikipedia)

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AMAZING!!!!!

Love the ones for Hannah!

[Lil_Irish_Lass]

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Zeal wrote:

Eva is one of the most horrible characters that I have encountered in a long time.  I can think of several "real" individuals that remind me of her.  You would think that Noah's birth would cause her to change her ways, but I don't think she has it in her.  The fact that Eva loves Daniel, but treats Meridia so poorly fascinates me also.  Why would she want to ruin Daniel's life by making those that he loves miserable?  I am sure it will not end with Noah.

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I don't think that Eva does love Daniel... I actually don't think she loves any of her family members aside from herself (and her roses).

None of her actions come out of misguided love, they are all built from her own selfish intentions. Part of it I'm sure comes from feeling unloved by her own birth mother who allowed Patina to raise her as her own - and knowing what we do of the woman we know that Patina cherised baby Eva so it's not like she grew up neglected by her adoptive family.

And as much as I dislike Eva I see the majority of her antics as a spoiled child who doesn't know how to socialize rather than pure evil hatred of others. She has to feel like she is in power, holding all the cards, and that everyone is paying attention to her. If she feels the power slipping she throws a temper tantrum (the bees) until things start going her way again.

[Lil_Irish_Lass]

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lmpmn wrote:
One thing I noticed in these later chapters was how the mists seemed to be protecting Meridia instead of thwarting her.  The mists shooed Daniel away when he came to try to win her back.  When she was living in her mother and father's house, the mists seemed to be stopping her from doing the things she wanted.  However, maybe they were protecting her all along.  For example, they'd wrap up her father so she couldn't see him coming and going to and from his mistress's home.  This could be seen as protecting her from that knowledge (although she found out anyway from learning her mother's secret language).

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Part of me cannot help but think that there is no mistress... rather that whatever wind brought winter to their household is also responsible for wisking Gabriel away every night. Like instead of the princess being cursed by the evil witch, getting locked away in the tower away from family and friends in the traditional fairy tale, it's Gabriel who has been cursed to never be able to spend a night in his house until someone comes along and breaks the spell.

After all you cannot have a fairy tale without a few curses thrown in for good measure.

[pen21]

I like your idea here. I have been thinking there is a mystery with Gabriel

leaving each night. There just seems to be more to this than a mistress.

pen21

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Lil_Irish_Lass wrote:

Part of me cannot help but think that there is no mistress... rather that whatever wind brought winter to their household is also responsible for wisking Gabriel away every night. Like instead of the princess being cursed by the evil witch, getting locked away in the tower away from family and friends in the traditional fairy tale, it's Gabriel who has been cursed to never be able to spend a night in his house until someone comes along and breaks the spell.

After all you cannot have a fairy tale without a few curses thrown in for good measure.

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[meme1]

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bookloverjb85 wrote:

Thanks for pointing out that both Verbena and Roses are thorny.  I didn't even think of that, but now that you mention it, it makes sense that these are the smells for each mother.

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PinkPanther wrote:

 Both Verbena's and Roses are thorny flowers. They have beautiful flowers, but can be very painful at the same time. I know that Verbena is the perfect scent for Ravenna because she is a very quietbeautiful woman with a good heart, but she can also stab you within the blink of an eye if you cross her path in any wrong way. I know my mother by her perfume. She always wears Donna Karan Cashmere Mist. Whenever I smell that I think of her, no matter where I am.________________________________________________

Just wanted to add a "cute" story:  My granddaughter lives across the country from me.  I always were Red Door perfume and didn't realize that the "aroma" was so distinct.  The five year old was sitting by a lady at a basketball game when she leaned over to the lady and said, "You smell like my grandma".  I'm not sure that the lady took that as a compliment until my daughter explained the reason for the statement!

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[cornwall]

I wrote for chapters 1-9 that it was a little too easy for me to put this book down. I apologize Mr. Setiawan, because now I can't put the book down! I agree that Eva is probably not so different from people most of us have encountered along the way. I was surprised by the venom and level of violence Elias showed towards Meridia. I guess he has no choice, but I felt his anger was not at her as much as how angry he was that she caused turmoil for him in defying Eva.

[ponie]

Thanks, my5ocean!

[ponie]

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Lil_Irish_Lass wrote:

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Zeal wrote:

Eva is one of the most horrible characters that I have encountered in a long time.  I can think of several "real" individuals that remind me of her.  You would think that Noah's birth would cause her to change her ways, but I don't think she has it in her.  The fact that Eva loves Daniel, but treats Meridia so poorly fascinates me also.  Why would she want to ruin Daniel's life by making those that he loves miserable?  I am sure it will not end with Noah.

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I don't think that Eva does love Daniel... I actually don't think she loves any of her family members aside from herself (and her roses).

None of her actions come out of misguided love, they are all built from her own selfish intentions. Part of it I'm sure comes from feeling unloved by her own birth mother who allowed Patina to raise her as her own - and knowing what we do of the woman we know that Patina cherised baby Eva so it's not like she grew up neglected by her adoptive family.

And as much as I dislike Eva I see the majority of her antics as a spoiled child who doesn't know how to socialize rather than pure evil hatred of others. She has to feel like she is in power, holding all the cards, and that everyone is paying attention to her. If she feels the power slipping she throws a temper tantrum (the bees) until things start going her way again.

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Shall we diagnose Eva with a huge dose of unhealthy narcissism??

Eva's mantra seems to be:  "If it's not about me, it's not!"

Flip that around to "It's ALL about me!"

[Lil_Irish_Lass]

Kind of like Greek/Roman mythology where people are sentenced to relive the same exact events over, and over again. Names escape me but the one man who is chained to the boulder and has his organs eaten out every day by a vulture only to survive to have it happen again the following day.

It sounds like Gabriel is in the same vicious cycle where every night the same thing keeps happening and rather than lost love for Ravenna causing his dislike and distance from Meridia, perhaps his attitude towards her is because of the "curse" he's been dealt with the mist.

The mist came after Meridia was born, I wouldn't blame him if he resents her for causing all of it. We don't know where he goes or what happens to him.

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pen21 wrote:

I like your idea here. I have been thinking there is a mystery with Gabriel

leaving each night. There just seems to be more to this than a mistress.

pen21

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Lil_Irish_Lass wrote:

Part of me cannot help but think that there is no mistress... rather that whatever wind brought winter to their household is also responsible for wisking Gabriel away every night. Like instead of the princess being cursed by the evil witch, getting locked away in the tower away from family and friends in the traditional fairy tale, it's Gabriel who has been cursed to never be able to spend a night in his house until someone comes along and breaks the spell.

After all you cannot have a fairy tale without a few curses thrown in for good measure.

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[Lil_Irish_Lass]

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ponie wrote:

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Lil_Irish_Lass wrote:

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Zeal wrote:

Eva is one of the most horrible characters that I have encountered in a long time.  I can think of several "real" individuals that remind me of her.  You would think that Noah's birth would cause her to change her ways, but I don't think she has it in her.  The fact that Eva loves Daniel, but treats Meridia so poorly fascinates me also.  Why would she want to ruin Daniel's life by making those that he loves miserable?  I am sure it will not end with Noah.

---

I don't think that Eva does love Daniel... I actually don't think she loves any of her family members aside from herself (and her roses).

None of her actions come out of misguided love, they are all built from her own selfish intentions. Part of it I'm sure comes from feeling unloved by her own birth mother who allowed Patina to raise her as her own - and knowing what we do of the woman we know that Patina cherished baby Eva so it's not like she grew up neglected by her adoptive family.

And as much as I dislike Eva I see the majority of her antics as a spoiled child who doesn't know how to socialize rather than pure evil hatred of others. She has to feel like she is in power, holding all the cards, and that everyone is paying attention to her. If she feels the power slipping she throws a temper tantrum (the bees) until things start going her way again.

---

Shall we diagnose Eva with a huge dose of unhealthy narcissism??

Eva's mantra seems to be:  "If it's not about me, it's not!"

Flip that around to "It's ALL about me!"

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I mean, it makes a whole lot of sense... Malin is her "favorite" but she still doesn't show love towards her daughter - just approval of her existence. And her affections towards Daniel were around Meridia all with a motive never just genuine feeling.

Eva could very well be the witch in this fairy tale.

[nicole21WA]

I figured Hannah would return, so it was no surprise that she did just when Meridia really needed a friend.  But I still haven't figured out exactly who she is.  I read Erick's comments/clues about her in the author question forum, but she's still a mystery to me.  I've decided that I'm ok with her being a mystery for now...so long as it all gets cleared up in the end!

I was pleased to see Meridia stand up for herself, though disappointed at how easily she went back to Daniel.  Yes, her father made sure the in-laws agreed to certain things, but how about telling Daniel to turn the blinders off??  Daniel has a lot of growing up to do; Gabriel was definitely right when he first said Meridia couldn't marry him.  Hopefully all the relationships will be different now that Noah has been born.  I have my doubts though.

[JerseyAngel]

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nicole21WA wrote:

I figured Hannah would return, so it was no surprise that she did just when Meridia really needed a friend.  But I still haven't figured out exactly who she is.  I read Erick's comments/clues about her in the author question forum, but she's still a mystery to me.  I've decided that I'm ok with her being a mystery for now...so long as it all gets cleared up in the end!

I was pleased to see Meridia stand up for herself, though disappointed at how easily she went back to Daniel.  Yes, her father made sure the in-laws agreed to certain things, but how about telling Daniel to turn the blinders off??  Daniel has a lot of growing up to do; Gabriel was definitely right when he first said Meridia couldn't marry him.  Hopefully all the relationships will be different now that Noah has been born.  I have my doubts though.

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I think we do forget that they are very young so he does have growing up to do. Meridia was only 16 when they married. I don't recall Daniel's age being mentioned? If someone does, please let me know! I would imagine he's not too much older then her though. When you go from being a boy who does everything his parents say, to suddenly being married & stilll living at home & being under your parents thumb, it's a transition that I would think is not easy. Especially with Eva as your mother. My view is that Daniel is slowly finding how to go from being the obedient son to the faithful husband. At first he just wants everything to go on as it has & everyone to be happy but suddenly everything turns upside down. As each chapters goes he grows up a little more & becomes his own man. I think as the story continues we will continue to see him grow.

[nfam]

Meridia grew up in these chapters and showed that she has the potential to be a very strong woman. I'm afraid I don't see the same potential in Daniel. I cheered when she left her new household. Eva is truly an evil character. Like the snake in Genesis, she draws people in. When it's too late they find themselves out of the garden.

I liked Meridia's parents in this section. Gabriel showed that he cared about his daughter. Likewise Ravenna was there when she was needed. I thought these two characters foreshadowed the growth Meridia will attain. She'll be better than her parents, but she got her strength from them. 

I loved the idea that the kids, Meridia and Daniel, had the potential to do much better in the jewelry business than the parents. I wonder what will happen with their retail adventures. It's a nice sidelight in the story.