Take Me, Take Me with You: A Novel of Suspense

The pace at the start of the story gave me a rush of adrenline. It was superbly crafted, moving in time and presenting the future before the present. The characters were seedy, and the decisions and choices of the protagonist made it hard to root for her. But at the end I accepted her choice along with her. I am not a follower of mainstream thrillers, nor have I ever read Joyce C. Oates. But after this novel, I intend to start.

I picked this book from the shelf at my local library by reading the inside of the jacket. Never having heard of Lauren Kelly, I was pleasently surprised (after a few pages)to realize that the author could be none other than one of my favorites... Joyce Carol Oates. I was thrilled to read another short novel by the amazing JCO. I have read all of her Rosamond Smith stories and find it truely intriguing that she has yet another alias. I only hope this means more creativity to come. Take me has a familiar JCO and Rosamond Smith theme, that of the duality of personalities.

Those who like their suspense novels with a twist of psychology then shaken with sharply drawn characters will take a liking to Lauren Kelly's promising debut novel. A pseudonymous offering, it is crafted with the deft skill of a master quitter who skillfully alternates times some 20 years apart to stitch together the pieces of this gripping tale. As a child Lara Quade loved her parents, and she believed they loved her despite the abuse. "...Momma didn't mean to hurt me when she slapped me, or shook me by the shoulders cursing me saying, why'd I ever come into the world, when I cried Momma would stop right away like she'd been in a trance......Like she was ashamed. Like it was her own self she'd been hurting." The abuse was only a small part of Lara's childhood. One day her mother put Lara and her older brother into the car and drove the three of them into a freight train. Move ahead 22 years and we find Lara working as an assistant at the Institute for Semiotics, Aesthetics and Cultural Research at Princeton. One may have to look closely to see the web-like scars covering her face, but the emotional scars are deep and ugly. One day she receives a prime ticket to an upcoming concert in her office mail box. It is sent anonymously. Perhaps, she thinks it is someone who admires her and knows she likes classical music, preferably the piano. Her seat mate at the concert is Zedrick Dewe, a young man, rather mysterious, who seems to know her. She finds herself drawn to him for reasons she cannot explain. Lara invites him back to her apartment, an invitation which should never have been issued. As that meeting becomes horror and additional pain as Lara is forced to confront the sins of her mother and father. Take Me, Take Me With You is a suspense propelled in depth probing of the human psyche. Highly recommended. - Gail Cooke

In 1993, Lara Quade works at the Institute for Semiotics, Aesthetics, and Cultural Research in Princeton, New Jersey. At work Lara receives an anonymous ticket to a concert. Trying to figure out who sent it, she rules out her father who deserted her and her older brother Ryan over two decades ago. She knows it cannot be momma, who in Lake Shaheen, New York drunkenly drove their car into a moving train with then six year old Lorraine (as Lara was called back then) and Ryan as passengers.At the concert, Zedrick Dewe sits next to her. Afterward, Lara invites Zed to her home where they end up arguing. Someone beats up the institute's director. Lara thinks Zed did this; she confronts him only to learn he is her half-brother. Their mutual father killed his mother and spent his remaining life in Attica for the crime. Lara wonders whether her crazy mother did that deed and plans to confront Ryan about her theory. However, first she and Zed, though they share common blood, want to make love.The storyline moves back and forth with ease between 1971 and 1993 as Lauren Kelly uses the past to tell a story about the present. The character driven story line focuses mostly on Lara looking back and wondering whether her mother killed her spouse's mistress and allowed her husband to take the fall. Zed is an intriguing protagonist as he knows he must avoid the incest offerings of Lara, but their tragic past has left both lonely and each other's arms feels comforting. TAKE ME, TAKE ME WITH YOU is a terse family drama.Harriet Klausner

Lara Quade is a Princeton research assistant who one day receives an anonymous invitation to a concert. From here she sets out to rediscover the truth about her family and past that she had previously tried to abandon. A strange accident in Lara's youth rests at the center of the novel. The story alternates between past and present, piecing the violent circumstances of Lara's upbringing together while also relating the impulsive and dangerous journey she embarks upon after her mentor and superior is attacked. The self-destructive impulse that reduced her mother to a near invalid threatens to overcome Lara as well.Lara has a deeply introverted personality that makes her virtually friendless and yearning for the approval of people she deems superior. One of the central conflicts she has in re-examining her past is her sense of class difference. She views the lower class community from which she came with a certain contempt, but she also abhors the cultured people of money she encounters so frequently in the affluent community of Princeton. The pretension of her scholastic endeavors even leads her to walk away from a discussion laughing in the academics faces. She went there determined to redefine herself (even giving herself a new name) but finds that she is trapped in a doll like image of the neglected girl who lost her family.Like the character of Ghislaine from Angela Carter's first novel Shadow Dance, Lara is similarly scarred and drawn toward degradation for the sake of love she never fully receives. She is fiercely intelligent and bravely faces her past unlike her brother Ryan who has determined to only embrace the future. In a haunting way, the past is shown to mirror the present. For instance, the description of a dribble of spit Lara sees on her mother's face is repeated in how she sees herself when waking after passing out on a strange bed. Clues relating to the truth of what happened in Lara's childhood are scattered throughout the novel so that series of events hit the reader like premonitions turning it into a tense psychological adventure. It is also a deeply moving novel about a family that is broken apart through violence and jealousy. The sense of desperate isolation it conveys is chilling.