“Argentum” is the story of Sophie, an amnesiac who wakes up in a hospital.  A man introduces himself as William, her fiance, and she leaves with him.  After several years, she begins to realize that William isn’t telling her everything.  When she confronts him, he somehow sends her to another place where she is picked up by the local police.  To add to the mysteries, at the end of each chapter is a “break” where we get a scene with a little girl named Seraphina who lives in a world of magic and fairies.

This is a story full of mysteries and unanswered questions.  When she first wakes up, Sophie remembers how to read and ride a bike but doesn’t know who to use a microwave or computer.  She has accepted William as her fiance and his version of her past in order to avoid going back to the hospital, but after 4 or 5 years she still doesn’t remember anything before he showed up.  Despite living together, they still sleep separately and hardly ever touch.  She’s not even sure what he does for a living. 

The main story is told by Sophie so we don’t get any backstory, just her confused impressions of things as they happened to her.  She’s an odd character; very confused but accepting.  She seems to be aware of how odd her situation is but it’s 4 years before she questions it.  Unfortunately, when she does confront William he doesn’t tell her anything, he just adds to the mysteries.  As the questions pile up the story becomes more confusing and less engaging.  I became impatient with the pace of the plot, the lack of action, and the lack of information.  Each new character seemed to do or say something mysterious and then walk away. 

The writing in the “breaks” is lovely—and the snippets we get about the little girl are intriguing—but even then we get unanswered questions.  For example, the girl’s nanny is disturbed that she wants to take a doll to bed with her, saying, “You know what they say about dolls”.  Unfortunately, Seraphina doesn’t tell us what “they” say so the reader is left in the dark again. 

The writing itself is solid but the main story is too nebulous to be compelling.  There’s no real sense of place or time.  From the author’s description, and the interludes with Seraphina, there is a well-developed backstory but there isn’t enough of it presented to anchor the plot.  Sophie “talks” a lot but doesn’t seem to say anything or do anything.  The other characters aren’t at all developed, they’re more like walk-on’s.  The crumbs of information we get are more frustrating than illuminating.  Sharing Sophie’s confusion gets tiresome very quickly.

Partway through the third chapter Sophie started getting a few answers, but even by the fifth chapter there were still too many unanswered questions to form a coherent plot.  If the author starts filling in more of the details a bit faster, “Argentum” may develop into a very good story.  Until then, the reader will have to decide if they have the patience for the wait.

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