Official Review: The Mountain City Bronzes

castor · Post by **castor** » 15 Apr 2014, 05:32

[Following is the official OnlineBookClub.org review of "The Mountain City Bronzes" by Madeleine McLaughlin.]

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The Mountain City Bronzes is a short mystery story written by Madeleine McLaughlin. The story has a dual theme. The first one is the relationship between a boy and his father. Kevin is the one that narrates the story, remembering his early years with his father. Kevin admires his father, he doesn't want to disappoint him and he wants to be like him. But there is a shadow in their relationship until the whole truth is told. The second issue is that people and societies in general, when something bad happens seek scapegoats in easy and vulnerable or imaginable targets avoiding to see the truth.

The place is a small village in US in the 19th century, probably, because Kevin is mentioning the gold rush. His father was a prison guard and little Kevin followed him in the prison. Prison was like a second home for Kevin and his dad. It was the place where he was doing his school homework and where he played, wandering through the corridors and rooms of the prison.

One day, at his play, Kevin finds a door that is locked. Asking his father about this door, he receives only minced words and no clear answer. He also asks two frequent inmates about this door, but he does not receive an answer. The refusal to answer his question arouses his curiosity and so he becomes more pressing to his father. And then Kevin’s father decides to tell him the real story.

It is a story from his early years. He reveals that he had a sister (Kevin’s aunt) and the closed door has something to do with her. That a sculptor came to the village and the entire village welcomed him. He was a generous and ambitious man. He started making sculptures using as models kids from the village and sold them. He became famous and everyone was celebrating his success.

Until one evening a boy disappeared. The villagers started searching for the boy in the mountains, but in vain. He was never found and vagabonds were blamed for taking the boy. The sculptor, then, presented a sculpture of the boy and gave it to the community as a tribute to the boy. The entire village loved him for his kindness. But six months later another kid disappeared and then another it was the time for Kevin’s father sister to disappear. The kids were never found. I won't continue because I will reveal too much. But the ending is beyond everyone’s imagination.

The book is very short, only 16 pages and very well written. I really liked it. The story has a very good pace; the reader is hooked up to the fascinating story for the very beginning. It starts with the innocence of young Kevin and has a dark and horrible ending that is unexpected.

I highly recommend it to every reader. I give 4 out of 4 stars. There is no reason to give any less but I would give more stars if I could.

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