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Paul Iverson and his wife Lexy fell in love over square hard boiled eggs. Lexy was a very free spirit and loved to do things spontaneously. Paul was more sober but you know what they say about opposites, so it was no wonder that they fell in love when they met. Lexy created all kinds of masks for a living. She molded and painted them by hand. The very first date Paul and Lexy went on was to a wedding where the bride, groom, and all the guests wore the masks that Lexy crafted for the occasion. Paul was a linguistics professor at a college, and these two opposites got along and had a perfect marriage full of love. At least thatıs what Paul believed until the police summoned him home one afternoon when Lexyıs dog Lorelei, a Rhodesian Ridgeback, barked long enough to get a neighbor's attention. Lexy had climbed to the top of a large apple tree in their backyard where upon she had fallen and died. The police assured Paul that it was an accident. They explained that people fell in a particular way when it was an accident and how it differs from the way that theyıd fall if they were pushed or decided to commit suicide. According to the experts, this was definitely an accident. During his first days of mourning, wandering around the house with Lorelei right by his side, Paul discovers some differences in the rooms. Nothing was missing but things were in a changed order from the norm. Lexy had eaten a large steak before her death and yet there were no dishes around, just the steak bone that Lorelei had been chewing. And the books on the shelves were rearranged in a different order. Suddenly, Paul realized that Lexy just might have committed suicide; she climbed up that tall tree and simply jumped. He had no idea as to a reason, but he felt that all the small changes he noticed in the house were clues. The only witness to Lexyıs death was Lorelei, the dog, and she wasnıt talking. Paul was desperate to find out exactly what went on during Lexyıs last afternoon so he decided to find some way to get Lorelei to tell him what happened. Finally he came to the conclusion that, as a linguist, all he had to do was to teach the dog how to talk. THE DOGS OF BABEL is author Carolyn Parkhurstıs first novel. Ms. Parkhurst is quite an able writer. Lexy and Paul are appealing characters and itıs nice how we follow them on their first date that lasts a week. The author has some lovely ideas and itıs pleasant to see the way she describes how the couple doesnıt want their first date to end so they never eat a main course meal during their week together; they survive on appetizers and side dishes only. I admired how Ms. Parkhurst shows how the relatively calm Paul tries to ease the pain that the very emotionally fragile Lexy suffers with. Itıs Paul who feels like heıs walking on eggshells not knowing what will agitate Lexy or when it will happen again. If the author kept THE DOGS OF BABEL to just the romance aspect of the Lexy and Paul that would have made this a fine book but for some reason she involves the idea of a talking dog. With this comes the story line of animal abuse and introduces characters who have maimed, hurt, abused, deformed, and even killed dogs because they want to prove that dogs can talk if they were somehow provided with palates that would allow speech. The book goes on and on how Paul tries to teach the dog, Lorelei, to talk. He helps her identify words and tries his best to get her to make human sounds. Then thereıs the tedious process of trying to teach Lorelei how to type on a special typewriter. All so that Paul could learn what happened to Lexy on that last afternoon. I would have liked THE DOGS OF BABEL a lot more if Ms. Parkhurst kept to Paulıs angst, and there is quite a bit of it here. Instead, this short book fills pages by involving the readers with animal abuse and a psychic that Lexy called the night before she died. None of these off-the-wall details add anything to the book. It could have done away with, especially the section that tells us how Paul found out about the psychic phone call. The story becomes weaker with all the folderol added. Iıll recommend this book mostly because Carolyn Parkhurst has all the makings of an excellent writer. You can tell how much she likes the written word because she uses them so beautifully. Her ideas are fine too but perhaps she might better save some of them for other stories and not throw them all into this one book. THE DOGS OF BABEL would have been better as a simple, beautiful love story.
Reviewed by Sharon Katz, July 2003
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