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Seven Moves: A Tightly Told Women's Literary Mystery – A Therapist's Search for Her Vanished Lover in Morocco
Christine Snow, a successful Chicago therapist, sets out to find her vanished lover, the sultry and elusive travel photographer Taylor Hayes. Forging a trail that leads into the heart of Morocco, Seven Moves tracks Christine's gradual recognition that no one can ever really know another's soul. Bearing Anshaw's trademark style -funny, hip, and laser-sharp -this is "a tightly told tale that resists the bookmark as well as any thriller" (Chicago Sun-Times). A Reader's Guide is now available.
240 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1988
6 people are currently reading
207 people want to read
About the author
Carol Anshaw
16 books198 followersCarol Anshaw is an American novelist and short story writer. Her books include Carry the One, Lucky in the Corner, Seven Moves and Aquamarine. Her stories have been anthologized in The Best American Short Stories in 1994, 1998, and 2012. She has an MFA from Vermont College of Fine Arts (1992). She has won a National Book Critics Circle Citation for Excellence in Reviewing, an NEA Grant, an Illinois Arts Council Fellowship, a Carl Sandburg Award and Society of Midland Authors Award. Her newest novel, Right after the Weather, is forthcoming in October from Simon & Schuster.
Anshaw is also a painter. She divides her time between Chicago and Amsterdam
Anshaw is also a painter. She divides her time between Chicago and Amsterdam
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews
January 1, 2016
I really enjoyed aquamarine so I figured that this book would be just as good. Unfortunately, it wasn't.
First of all, Carol Ashnaw writes in a present tense. That got on my nerves a little bit but I learned to put it aside. Second, the book is whiny, everything Christine goes through is so melodramatic. She seems like a sad excise for a human being. I thought the concept would be good but it just isn't. I don't identify with Christine and I don't sympathize with her.
Ashnaw tends to jump around a lot in this book, moving from flashback to present time, jumping form the subject of her father to her clients to her lover. It is rather confusing and I lost interest about half way through the book.
Christine's trip to Morocco isn't even explored as much as it could be. Ashnaw devotes one chapter of this book to something that is very crucial to the story. This happens many times in the book and I find that it takes away from the seriousness of it.
I do like the pace of the story, Ashnaw is good with creating a sense of how much time has passed. I also like the tone of the story, it seems down to earth. Also this story is real-to-life. It could happen to anyone.
Unfortunately, I was disappointed with the book. Like I said, aquamarine is an excellent book. This one, not so good.
First of all, Carol Ashnaw writes in a present tense. That got on my nerves a little bit but I learned to put it aside. Second, the book is whiny, everything Christine goes through is so melodramatic. She seems like a sad excise for a human being. I thought the concept would be good but it just isn't. I don't identify with Christine and I don't sympathize with her.
Ashnaw tends to jump around a lot in this book, moving from flashback to present time, jumping form the subject of her father to her clients to her lover. It is rather confusing and I lost interest about half way through the book.
Christine's trip to Morocco isn't even explored as much as it could be. Ashnaw devotes one chapter of this book to something that is very crucial to the story. This happens many times in the book and I find that it takes away from the seriousness of it.
I do like the pace of the story, Ashnaw is good with creating a sense of how much time has passed. I also like the tone of the story, it seems down to earth. Also this story is real-to-life. It could happen to anyone.
Unfortunately, I was disappointed with the book. Like I said, aquamarine is an excellent book. This one, not so good.
March 4, 2017
There are a few authors whose work has so touched or moved or awed me that I have this tendency to hang onto their works, unread, saving them like some literary squirrel might hoard the very best nuts. Anshaw won her place in this group with her first novel, _Aquamarine_, and that, sadly, explains why it is 2017 and I have only just now cracked open the vintage 1996 nut that is her second novel, _Seven Moves_.
While the public's reviews for this book are not quite as glowing as for _Aquamarine_, I think this sophomore work is even better. It does not rely on the sci-fi time-traveler device that cleverly framed the first work. It is, instead, the story of what it is like for the partner who finds herself, suddenly, hanging in mid-air, mid-life, mid-moment, when her partner suddenly, and with seemingly little motive, disappears.
The bereft main character is Christine Snow, a psychotherapist, who is left to play detective, to slowly, sometimes painfully, dig out a better understanding about just who this woman was and why she might have left. I don't want to give away any spoilers, but I found Chris's emotional journey to be both believable and heart-breaking.
While the public's reviews for this book are not quite as glowing as for _Aquamarine_, I think this sophomore work is even better. It does not rely on the sci-fi time-traveler device that cleverly framed the first work. It is, instead, the story of what it is like for the partner who finds herself, suddenly, hanging in mid-air, mid-life, mid-moment, when her partner suddenly, and with seemingly little motive, disappears.
The bereft main character is Christine Snow, a psychotherapist, who is left to play detective, to slowly, sometimes painfully, dig out a better understanding about just who this woman was and why she might have left. I don't want to give away any spoilers, but I found Chris's emotional journey to be both believable and heart-breaking.
November 3, 2008
Sloow slow slow slow slow. I expected more after loving "Aquamarine. For someone who loves texture it seems excruxiatingly detailed. I think it would have been a great short story and held greater depth and intensity with a dash more brevity.
July 12, 2013
At first I thought Seven Moves wasn't a strong as Carol Anshaw's other novels (Carry the One being a true powerhouse), but then I found myself going back in my mind to the tiny turns of phrase and human details. I started to feel sad that I wasn't still reading it. I read it once already a few years ago but couldn't quite remember the twists and turns of the plot, but I did remember a lot of the great details (some are so haunting). The moment when you discover the title's meaning is truly a great one, one that reminded me of what good writing is all about. I'd say Seven Moves is a good summer read, for folks who are into that.
April 20, 2020
A bit of a letdown. At the beginning I would have given this 4 stars, but everything happens at a remove, as if Chris and Taylor were clients being written up in Chris's case notes. Anshaw's lovely sentences are present in their humour and balance and appropriateness to each character, and I love the dog Bud, but even the epigraph by John Prine couldn't complete this one.
June 27, 2018
This book was dissapointing. I always want to support LGBT+ writers and stories but this one left much to be desired. I felt like it was a bunch of rambling with no actual plot or character development. I got to the end and thought, what was the point of this?
September 12, 2022
Anshaw is, no doubt, a writer to watch. This is the third of her books I've read. I read "Aquamarine" in college and read "Carry the One" back in 2018. I enjoyed both of those. The writing in "Seven Moves" is really gorgeous, and the character development is excellent. I just felt the novel was a bit "slight". It's literally only a little over 200 pages, but not a whole lot happens, except in the main character, Chris's, head. Chris has never really felt solid and safe with her lover Taylor, but is fascinated with her. When Taylor goes missing, Chris hunts for clues both about where Taylor currently is and how she missed clues to Taylor's hidden life.
I didn't need the plot to be 100 percent neatly wrapped up, but I did expect some kind of final resolution or epiphany, and there really wasn't. My comment upon reading the last sentence was, "Huh."
Even though I was a bit underwhelmed, it was still worth reading. I'll keep an eye out for Anshaw's books and short stories, because she's obviously talented.
I didn't need the plot to be 100 percent neatly wrapped up, but I did expect some kind of final resolution or epiphany, and there really wasn't. My comment upon reading the last sentence was, "Huh."
Even though I was a bit underwhelmed, it was still worth reading. I'll keep an eye out for Anshaw's books and short stories, because she's obviously talented.
May 22, 2021
I've taught Anshaw's brilliant short story, "Hammam" for over 20 years at the college level. This is my first foray into one of her novels and though there is a bit of a drag in the middle (strangely enough, for me, in the exotic Morocco sections), there are so many moments of acute observations and brilliant writing that, to coin an oft-used phrase, attention must be paid:
"She was traveling with her parents, was young and deeply naive. Their affair was as silly and inconsequential as an Astaire-Rogers movie; it should have had lyrics rather than dialogue."
"'Oh,' Chris says, blushing in the dark, where it's worthless currency."
"Here, though, is a respite, an emotional oasis where the fates hold the deck and often deal from the bottom. In a culture so veiled, a scheme in which so much is occult and filled with hardship, with people of small possibilities, a woman who has lost her lover, it would seem, can be easily accommodated."
"She was traveling with her parents, was young and deeply naive. Their affair was as silly and inconsequential as an Astaire-Rogers movie; it should have had lyrics rather than dialogue."
"'Oh,' Chris says, blushing in the dark, where it's worthless currency."
"Here, though, is a respite, an emotional oasis where the fates hold the deck and often deal from the bottom. In a culture so veiled, a scheme in which so much is occult and filled with hardship, with people of small possibilities, a woman who has lost her lover, it would seem, can be easily accommodated."
February 4, 2023
I do think this writer should be more well-known. It's such a relief to read a story about lesbian characters who have already come out and are living their lives. It took me just a bit to hook into the plot, but once I did, I was in. Anshaw's characters are always well-drawn and fully human, and the main character sees them in an entertainingly snarky light, especially for being a therapist. To be fair, though, she sees her own faults as well. Lots of names (clients, ex-lovers, friends, relatives) to keep track of - my Achilles' heel with fiction - but I followed along all right. The conclusion wasn't as satisfying as I hoped, but the book did show how we don't know people as well as we think we do.
March 6, 2021
This story concerns the changes in Chris’ life that occur as a result of her female lover and companion of four years disappearing leaving no indication of where she has gone or why she left. Chris is a therapist but her occupation does not enable her to handle this desertion any better than anyone else. The book contains some interesting characters but in my mind they are not enough to salvage this very sad story about how little we really know each other.
July 2, 2018
Not my cup of tea.
August 13, 2023
i liked the beginning and the end the most. pretty sad time overall and not what i expected.
January 9, 2012
A well written story, and yet... have you ever sat in a high-end coffee shop or restaurant and overheard a story at a nearby table? You spend your time listening into someone else's drama, intrigued and yet without commitment: you will never see this person again so you aren't emotionally involved in their tale of woe and insanity. That's how I felt reading Seven Moves. I never emotionally invested in the main character, Chris, but rather, in the story itself. I wanted to know how the story ended, not what happened to Taylor or how Chris fared or what happened to Daniel. Oh I know that's me, not the story -- most fiction leaves me this way -- I'm just sayin'.
Addendum:
On a more personal note, this came to me afterwards, as unexpected inspirations are prone to do. One small sequence at the end of the book deeply affected me. Taylor notes "Snow unexpectedly kind" (Chris Snow is the main character) -- one of the very few notations about her -- and Chris can't even remember that particular kindness. It reminded me that we can never fully know the impact our "unexpected kindness" will have on anyone. I decided to re-establish an old but recently foregone daily ritual: saying good morning and good night to online friends. While Chris ruminates over re-establishing her life via daily rituals like bathing and cooking, it brought up in me the fact that I had been embarrassed into stopping my own small ritual, my own "unexpected kindness". Yes, I actually had people, well, challenge me for such minor greetings -- they weren't important enough to post to Facebook: why clutter your wall with such trivialities? After reading and thinking about Seven Moves, I realized that this was one of many daily tasks -- rituals -- that I enjoyed, that kept me connected and sends a kind message to others in the world. The day after finished Seven Moves, I started again with my greetings and farewell biddings, and I feel better for it. Thank to Carol Anshaw, the world will be, for a few people in a small way, unexpectedly kinder.
Addendum:
On a more personal note, this came to me afterwards, as unexpected inspirations are prone to do. One small sequence at the end of the book deeply affected me. Taylor notes "Snow unexpectedly kind" (Chris Snow is the main character) -- one of the very few notations about her -- and Chris can't even remember that particular kindness. It reminded me that we can never fully know the impact our "unexpected kindness" will have on anyone. I decided to re-establish an old but recently foregone daily ritual: saying good morning and good night to online friends. While Chris ruminates over re-establishing her life via daily rituals like bathing and cooking, it brought up in me the fact that I had been embarrassed into stopping my own small ritual, my own "unexpected kindness". Yes, I actually had people, well, challenge me for such minor greetings -- they weren't important enough to post to Facebook: why clutter your wall with such trivialities? After reading and thinking about Seven Moves, I realized that this was one of many daily tasks -- rituals -- that I enjoyed, that kept me connected and sends a kind message to others in the world. The day after finished Seven Moves, I started again with my greetings and farewell biddings, and I feel better for it. Thank to Carol Anshaw, the world will be, for a few people in a small way, unexpectedly kinder.
June 21, 2020
Call me crazy but there are some books I have to read and read again. Seven Moves is one. I’ve tried to figure out the hold it has on me because it’s true that the main character, Christine, is stuck and doesn’t seem able to free herself. Her lover’s disappearance condemns her to a limbo and the reader is stuck there. It’s clear Chris’s life is on hold. She attempts to go on with her daily life but it is fake; her present is waiting.
Some reviewers have accused Chris of wallowing in her pain and confusion, as if the story needs to leap over the emotional ocean of missing and not knowing. They overlook the heart of it. Uncertainty is captivating. Not knowing is engaging. It takes a kind of toughness to stay in that crazy space.
It is there, in the absence, that we learn about Taylor, aware that we are seeing her through the lens of Chris and the distortion that’s bound to entail. It begs the question does anyone really know the person they love? And, just as the wrappings of a mummy outline the contents, we learn about Chris as she pursues answers about Taylor’s vanishing.
Granted, it’s not everyone’s cup of tea but to me, it’s a satisfying book. I’ll probably read it again on a night when I’m wanting to explore uncertainty and unpredictability and presences and absences and how much we know those we love. What fun!
Some reviewers have accused Chris of wallowing in her pain and confusion, as if the story needs to leap over the emotional ocean of missing and not knowing. They overlook the heart of it. Uncertainty is captivating. Not knowing is engaging. It takes a kind of toughness to stay in that crazy space.
It is there, in the absence, that we learn about Taylor, aware that we are seeing her through the lens of Chris and the distortion that’s bound to entail. It begs the question does anyone really know the person they love? And, just as the wrappings of a mummy outline the contents, we learn about Chris as she pursues answers about Taylor’s vanishing.
Granted, it’s not everyone’s cup of tea but to me, it’s a satisfying book. I’ll probably read it again on a night when I’m wanting to explore uncertainty and unpredictability and presences and absences and how much we know those we love. What fun!
January 17, 2014
I really enjoyed reading this book. Anshaw's character development was excellent and it really made me feel like I had a good understanding of who everyone was; she really brought them all to life. Her vivid descriptions of their daily lives so closely paralleled reality that, at times, I felt like I was really experiencing them.
I will admit, however, that I was expecting (and really hoping!) that the book would end differently. It was slightly disappointing because I don't think I got what I *needed* from the ending. If it hadn't been for how wonderfully the rest of the book was written, I would have given it 3 stars. This is my first introduction to Anshaw's work and it has me very intrigued about the rest of her work. Great read...I'd say you should read it up until the last 3 pages then maybe fantasize your own ending, lol. :p
I will admit, however, that I was expecting (and really hoping!) that the book would end differently. It was slightly disappointing because I don't think I got what I *needed* from the ending. If it hadn't been for how wonderfully the rest of the book was written, I would have given it 3 stars. This is my first introduction to Anshaw's work and it has me very intrigued about the rest of her work. Great read...I'd say you should read it up until the last 3 pages then maybe fantasize your own ending, lol. :p
March 15, 2008
Seven Moves is a intriguing story of a woman, Chris, who's searching for her possibly missing lover. The lover, not known for her dependability or responsibility, might have just left the relationship, might be wandering about, or might actually have had something nefarious happen to her. Over the course of the search for answers, Chris finds out more than she bargained for about her lover's past and present. And, Chris herself enters into a new life as if her lover is never going to be heard from again…even before she finds out whether or not that's the case. A strong, lyrical book by the author of the acclaimed Aquamarine. VERY well-written and full, fleshed characters makes this a great piece of fiction.
August 11, 2008
This book surprised me. I didn't have great expectations. The story revolves around Chris after her lover of many years unexpectedly disappears. The author is so good as describing Chris, and what is going on in her head. Anshaw has wonderful insight and elegant prose. We really get to know Chris, and what it must feel like to not know where your loved one has disappeared to. SPOILER: I liked that the reader was left not knowing what happened to Taylor, just as Chris was left wondering.
April 25, 2012
Enjoyed this, but not as much as Carry The One. Was surprised that some elements from this novel were repeated in CTO -- visiting the bath house, using some of the same character names. It was well written, funny and interesting enough to hang with it, but I felt it needed a little more than just main disappearing lover plot. The ancillary characters were interesting enough to merit some deeper delving into their exploits.
June 25, 2008
This came highly recommended and I enjoyed Aquamarine, Anshaw's first book, but Seven Moves was very disappointing. I expected more of a thriller and suspense novel; instead it was a slow-moving psycho-sociological exploration which became very dull. Perhaps it was my expectations, but in any case this book let me down.
May 9, 2012
Another broken arm review...I picked this up after enjoying Carry the One and found it very different. I thought it would be more of a standard mystery (what happened to Taylor?) but instead found an exploration of loss, what we know about our loved ones, and how we might deceive ourselves and others in love. It was smartly written but had a much more melancholy tone than Carry the One.
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December 19, 2008I'm on a lesbian novel kick, and this was a good, though not great one. The relationship between the characters was kind of compelling, even though the characters themselves weren't tremendously developed.
May 10, 2013
I like her writing. It was easy to get into the book from an emotional level because we all tend to analyze why we think something happened and often aren't too kind to ourselves or others when doing so.
June 17, 2007
"bad, cliched."
August 23, 2008
B Not as captivating as Aquamarine, this novel tells the story of a woman's girlfriend who suddenly disappears…and how the narrator copes. Interesting.
November 2, 2008
one of the best books that i have ever read!
July 14, 2009
A solid, fun read. Not terribly deep, but sometimes that is just fine with me.
July 16, 2013
photographer in many lands and therapist form relationship. lesbian romance, thriller
December 20, 2013
This is some of her earlier work...you can see glimpses of writing to come, but this pales in comparison to her elegant phrases of more recent works.
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March 16, 2015good
July 27, 2011
This is a great novel!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews