"Untold Story," a novel by Monica Ali, depicts what could have happened if Princess Diana hadn't been killed in a car crash, but if instead she had faked her own death to escape from both her royal duties and her unhappy marriage to Prince Charles.
The book follows the story of Lydia, a woman living in a small Midwestern town. Her background is very mysterious, which causes her friends to question how well they really know her. Lydia purposefully isolates herself from anyone who gets too close to her to prevent her true identity from surfacing.
Given the extreme popularity of the British royal family due to the recent marriage of Prince William to Kate Middleton, this novel had a lot of potential. Unfortunately, the story line was difficult to follow due to many factors, including multiple narrators.
All three narrators of the story had unique perspectives, which added interest to the piece. One was Princess Diana herself, under the alias of Lydia. The other two narrators were Dr. Lawrence Standing, Diana's personal secretary, and a photojournalist who took pictures of Diana from the very beginning, even before she became engaged to Prince Charles. Not only did all three narrators participate in a first-person narrative, making the use of "I" in the story very ambiguous, but they also told their stories using different styles, which weren't consistent throughout the novel.
In addition to the confusion of multiple narrators, the organizational structure of the novel wasn't conducive to easy reading. After the first few chapters, the story jumps backward in time, and many events appear out of order as journal entries. If the story progressed in a chronological order, it would have been a much better read, but the structure hindered the reader from being able to fully immerse him or herself in Lydia/Diana's life.
It was clear the author was trying to make the story line confusing for the reader because of the confusion of all the characters (except Lydia), but too many details were left hazy and unanswered in the book.
The novel started out slow and didn't pick up until more than halfway through, only to end in disappointment. The majority of the book is filled with Lydia's fear of being discovered in her new life and pining over the boys she has lost. Overall, the language was superb, but the story itself was dissatisfying.
rachelstaats@dailynebraskan.com
Grade: C
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