Book club discusses "The Cloud of Unknowing"

Thomas Cook's The Cloud of Unknowing was the selection for this month's book club. While not a traditional mystery in the sense of a "whodunit," it asked the question "did he (or she) do it?"

David Sears is sitting with a police detective discussing the incidents involving a death in his sister's family and the strong suspicious she has of her husband's involvement. Did he actually commit murder--of his own son? David's sister Diana becomes more and more convinced that her son Jason did die by Mark's hand (the cause of death is listed as an accidental drowning). Diana's behavior, however, appears to become a little strange and David worries that as his father suffered from schizophrenia--Diana might too.

Cook's novel alternatives between two stories David tells, the first in the present day with Detective Petrie and the recent past with details of Diana's activities and his response. Here's a pix of Cook that appears on the inside book jacket.

What's the story here with David, Diana and the others? Diana leaves Mark and quickly divorces him. Although abrupt, she is grieving after her son's death and suffering--why should she stay with Mark? Still her activities get weird and David and his wife, Abby, don't want their daughter Patty to become too close to Diana now and that has begun to happen.

The relationships involving Patty alone brought a lot of discussion as the headstrong daughter isn't reined in by the passive parents. Teenage Patty sees herself as assertive but the parents got raked over the coals for not controlling their daughter. David, especially, was viewed as the meekest of men--one club member noted that throughout the book--but as he was routinely harshly dismissed by father in favor of his sister, he would have issues. David was also viewed as a frustrating character as the storyteller/main character. Would the novel have benefited from another point of view, like Patty's? Sure.

However, Cook does give the book its tunnel vision with David's voice and Diana as the major focus of the book. Otherwise, the writing was noted as being good and the story set a reasonable length.

The book even takes an otherworldly pace with character names from Greek literature (i.e., Diana, Jason and Hypatia) and the mention of the Greek belief Gaia which says the world is a living organism with the ability to see and hear. Could Diana's interest in Gaia help prove her case against Mark? Well, not in this story as Gaia is only a disappointing small sidebar said one book clubber.

As the novel continues we wonder if another murder occurs because of David's long interview. One book club member guessed one character had murdered another but a twist at the end changes that completely. Cook does have a nice move with twisting storylines at the end.

So to get to the payoff for the book as it ends, how is it and did (s)he do it? We believe despite the number of deaths in the book, there was one murder. Otherwise, one reader really liked the book, another liked it, two were under whelmed but finished the book and another did not finish reading the book.