The Mirror: The Lost Bride Trilogy, Book 2
“By the end of The Mirror it’s clear that Sonya and her allies need to enter the haunted past, retrieve seven rings (no hobbits though), and defeat the witch and her curse.”
Imagine jumping into the second volume of The Lord of the Rings without knowing what happened in the first one—or what a hobbit is. That’s the experience that this delicious chunky sequel from Nora Roberts offers, since the only explanation offered for the extraordinary events taking place is found on the paper jacket of the book or, better yet, in the online description from the publisher.
Without those waymarking directions, the first few chapters and almost all of the characters offered in The Mirror are baffling and confusing to a reader jumping into the series here. For best results, do consume the earlier volume, Inheritance, before attempting this one. The gist of the plot there is, Sonya MacTavish has had an unexpected inheritance of a huge house on the scenic coast of Maine. The presence of generations of dead brides in the family mansion intersects with her move to the place: Doors slam, music plays, footsteps pass, nights are always interrupted, and soon she begins to find portraits of the brides themselves.
By halfway through The Mirror, it’s pretty clear that those ghostly presences are repeating their deaths for Sonya to witness, thanks to an early-American witch who once wanted the house for herself and placed a deadly curse on all the women to tried to take it on.
Fortunately for Sonya’s mental health, she’s not the only one to experience the hauntings in her home. Her ever-loyal friend Cleo and her cousin Owen are on hand, plus a new boyfriend, Trey, with whom Sonya is rediscovering what love ought to be. And in these interactions, Nora Roberts, as always, shines: demonstrating through small and meaningful interactions the ways that caring adult relationships begin, are tested, survive, and build. The tenderness and courage among the characters outweigh the spooky threats of witchy Hester Dobbs and echo the emotions and unfinished lives of those lost brides.
Roberts also packs into the tale opportunities for both Sonya and Cleo to grow in terms of creativity: planning and planting gardens and painting the scenes around them. But at this house, there’s no sweet interlude without a sense of threat as well: “They chatted on and off as they painted, and Sonya found herself enjoying it all. The air, the scents, the calls of birds. And experimenting with color and shape . . . she had the turret rising behind it, the rounded shape, the golden stones, the tall windows. And the shadow that came and went behind the glass in the library.”
By the end of The Mirror it’s clear that Sonya and her allies need to enter the haunted past themselves, retrieve seven rings (no hobbits though), and defeat the witch and her curse. They’ll be slowed by Sonya’s own past that carries a malignant presence who’s very much alive, and by the small confusions of love-in-process. But any hint of how the rings will actually be retrieved must wait for the final volume of the trilogy.
For best results, pick up both Inheritance and The Mirror, and prepare for another year’s wait in order to discover how Sonya will inevitably summon up courage and loyalty of her own, rely on the strong brave people she’s drawn into her circle, and defeat the darkness of lives and betrayals of generations before her. Then all will become clear (and sweet) at last.