The Reservoir

May 14, 2011 Jeanette rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: all-fiction, america, five-star-fiction, historical-fiction, miss-trees, av

We'll never know if the real Tommie Cluverius killed his cousin Lillie. Available records make convincing arguments for both guilt and innocence. John Milliken Thompson has taken the bare bones of a real case from 1885 and filled in the meat of the story using his imagination and thorough research.

The body of a pregnant girl is found floating in a reservoir in Richmond, Virginia. The immediate assumption is suicide by a girl in trouble. But when the girl is identified as Lillian Madison, people...more We'll never know if the real Tommie Cluverius killed his cousin Lillie. Available records make convincing arguments for both guilt and innocence. John Milliken Thompson has taken the bare bones of a real case from 1885 and filled in the meat of the story using his imagination and thorough research.

The body of a pregnant girl is found floating in a reservoir in Richmond, Virginia. The immediate assumption is suicide by a girl in trouble. But when the girl is identified as Lillian Madison, people come forward with information leading to the arrest of Lillian's cousin Tommie Cluverius on suspicion of murder.

Tommie is a 23-year-old lawyer with a bright future. He's likeable, if a bit of a rogue, two-timing the girls who love him and making regular brothel visits. The case against him seems weak at first, and his Aunt Jane and brother Willie believe firmly in his innocence. But Tommie seems to be the only suspect in Lillian's death, and the evidence mounts.

The author weaves together the present and the past, bringing in Lillie and Tommie's shared history since childhood. He shows how that history might have given Tommie a motive for murder.
You'll change your mind several times throughout the story. Sometimes you'll be absolutely certain Tommie did it. Then you'll be equally sure he didn't, and you'll wonder when the real culprit will surface. Still other times, you'll be convinced that Lillie really did commit suicide, or maybe it was even an accident. We'll never know for sure, but Thompson brings the story to a convincing conclusion. Convincing enough that it made me cry, because guilty or not, Tommie's really still just a boy, and he's so fearful of the unknown. His brother Willie's unwavering loyalty is especially touching.

This is a well-written, carefully researched novel, full of the period detail we historical fiction fans love to savor. Post-Civil War Richmond, Virginia and its environs really come alive with the sights, sounds, and sentiments of the era. The pace is a little slower and the prose more literary than the average contemporary mystery, but that extra attention is what makes it so rich and satisfying. I recommend it for history buffs and those who love literary mysteries.

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Aug 02, 2011 Lou rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: july-read, mystery-thriller

There is is a noose waiting, waiting to tighten on a neck. That neck better be the killer of one stirred heart of a girl an expectant mother.
Stirred hearts, love and friendship. Many hearts wavered by one rather beautiful empty Heart, a web of family intrigue.
Justice is the key, the good should rise above the evil ideally as the common rule.
This story is one to be talked about for many years to come one I hold it highly up there with the greats of Human struggle, greats like 'To Kill a Mockingbi...more There is is a noose waiting, waiting to tighten on a neck. That neck better be the killer of one stirred heart of a girl an expectant mother.
Stirred hearts, love and friendship. Many hearts wavered by one rather beautiful empty Heart, a web of family intrigue.
Justice is the key, the good should rise above the evil ideally as the common rule.
This story is one to be talked about for many years to come one I hold it highly up there with the greats of Human struggle, greats like 'To Kill a Mockingbird.' I think you feel the essence of what kind of story we are dealing with here soak it up and savor this delightful poignant true story presented in an exemplary fashion of storytelling of the joys and the losses in life. The bliss of youth and friendship and the grimness and loneliness of the loss of love and life.

Excerpts

"The contrast between the two girls seemed to give him a window into the nature of his soul; he thought he must be in love with Lillie, but it disturbed him that the way he felt about her was passionate and physical, almost violent in its ability to take over his entire body and mind. It would be so much more pleasant if he were in love with Nola."

" You couldn’t just Walk into a saloon on Main Street in the middle of the day, and into house of bad repute at night. People had morals then. Now it’s

just sin everywhere you go. People smoking, spitting, gambling, cussing. Nossir, in my day, people didn’t act thataway. They behaved theirselves, and people got along just fine, even if they didn’t like each other.”

"Reservoir’s the end of the line. I been twenty years driving this route, ever since the war ended, and Reservoir’s always been the end of the line.”

"is beauty all around. When you're out there trying to make your mark on the world, don't ever forget how beautiful it already is."

Visit my web blog for Video of author taking you behind the true story.

http://more2read.com/?review=the-reservo...

Once you finish the story visit the authors website here http://johnmillikenthompson.com/resources/spoilers1 for some images of real letters sent.(less)

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Jul 12, 2011 Trish rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction, mysteries, debut-author, true-crime

The Reservoir is a debut novel and mystery drawn from a true story that was the sensation of 1885 in Richmond, VA. A young, unmarried, pregnant woman is drowned in the city reservoir, presumably by her paramour: a young lawyer on his way up who also happens to be her cousin. Newspaper records of the time whipped up a frenzied appreciation of the scandal among townspeople, who flocked to attend the trial. The accused was gifted in many ways…he could write well and spoke with conviction; he kept...more The Reservoir is a debut novel and mystery drawn from a true story that was the sensation of 1885 in Richmond, VA. A young, unmarried, pregnant woman is drowned in the city reservoir, presumably by her paramour: a young lawyer on his way up who also happens to be her cousin. Newspaper records of the time whipped up a frenzied appreciation of the scandal among townspeople, who flocked to attend the trial. The accused was gifted in many ways…he could write well and spoke with conviction; he kept his head under crushing pressures; he was not unpleasant to look upon, and dressed soberly but well. He was an ideal defendant in many ways. This novel is what might have been the backstory to the trial, richly imagined by a man 125 years later. Court documents and evidence of the trial are still available: letters, photographs, a watch key.

Just as townspeople were riveted a century ago, we read the story of this ill-begotten romance, not knowing if the defendant should be accused of murder. The length of the trial and the sensationalism of the evidence kept it in the news for some time, and the author does a good job of revealing outcomes slowly, just as if we are hearing the outcome anew. We are as unsure what burdened the hearts of the victim and her cousin. Some readers have pointed out that the courts have changed so much that it doesn’t seem possible we are talking about the same legal system. While I cannot speak to this, I can say that the death penalty was still in vogue, and I could hardly wait to hear what the defendant would reveal in his own defense…and sucked in my breath when yet another piece of crucial evidence succumbed to flames by well-meaning relatives. It was hard to remember this is fiction, until we realize once again that it was not.

So what was fiction and what was fact? A reader will be able to discern the outlines of the case easily and can spend hours ruminating over what was known, by whom, and when. It is a story that stays with one, and is a cautionary tale as well. What comes across loud and clear is that the family of the defendant was also victim to the crime, for it was badly torn by the allegations. I can’t help but think this would make a marvelous film. All the material could be portrayed through edited scenes and pictures and would be a great vehicle for actors able to confuse us viewers as jurors. The ending is unknowable until the very end. Kudos go to the author, John Milliken Thompson, for recognizing a story when he saw it.
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Oct 01, 2012 Marie desJardins rated it 1 of 5 stars

I really did not like this book. I didn't particularly enjoy it as I was reading it, but I stuck it out because I wanted to know what had really happened and why Tommie didn't want to talk about it. (view spoiler)...more

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Dec 12, 2011 Erin Forson rated it 1 of 5 stars

The Reservoir
John N. Thompson
Released June 21, 2011
The Story Line
Lillian Madison, a young, beautiful, unwed, and pregnant woman is found dead and floating in the reservoir. From the opening pages of the novel, the reader witnesses Thomas Cluverius stealing away from the scene of Lillian’s death, and thus begins the drama. At first, the reader may think they are to embark on a journey into the mind of a killer. Not so. Instead, this post-civil war drama is set mostly in the jailhouse and the cour...more The Reservoir
John N. Thompson
Released June 21, 2011
The Story Line
Lillian Madison, a young, beautiful, unwed, and pregnant woman is found dead and floating in the reservoir. From the opening pages of the novel, the reader witnesses Thomas Cluverius stealing away from the scene of Lillian’s death, and thus begins the drama. At first, the reader may think they are to embark on a journey into the mind of a killer. Not so. Instead, this post-civil war drama is set mostly in the jailhouse and the courtroom where Thomas is held and tried for Lillian’s murder. Cluverius is tight-lipped throughout; even his attorneys fail to persuade Thomas to share every detail of his involvement in this case. Is he guilty of Lillian’s murder or just an innocent bystander? Perhaps he is neither.
Critique
The setting of the story is true to post-civil war Virginia and gives a wonderful flavor of the period; yet for the non-historical book lover the descriptions may come off as old-fashioned or dry. The dialect is a bit over-done in parts of the novel; a flavor of the accents of the characters would be much better than each line being peppered with oddly spelled words meant to represent the sounds altered words. Sometimes the narrator jumps from inside the mind of one character to the mind of another with very little transition which is jarring—the reader thinks they are listening to the thoughts of Tommie, when in fact they are actually listening to his brother, Willie’s thoughts. Lastly, the narrator sometimes jumps in and tells about an event, rather than showing the action more naturally through the eyes of a character.
This book left me feeling:
Bored (see above)
The Author
Thompson is a first-time novelist with a background in history. In fact, most of his previous writing has been non-fiction and has appeared in many well-respected publications like Smithsonian and National Geographic Traveler. This book is loosely based on an actual court case that took place in Richmond, Virginia shortly after The American Civil War.
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Feb 28, 2012 Bonnie Brody rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Tommie Cluverius is on trial for murder in the first degree. The charge is that he killed Lillie Madison and threw her into a reservoir where she drowned. The year is 1885 and Richmond, Virginia is the scene of the crime. Did Tommie kill Lillie or was it suicide? Did someone else kill Lillie and try to pin the crime on Tommie? The outcome of the trial will determine whether Tommie lives or goes to the gallows.

The Reservoir by John Milliken Thompson is a moving and fascinating story of two brothe...more Tommie Cluverius is on trial for murder in the first degree. The charge is that he killed Lillie Madison and threw her into a reservoir where she drowned. The year is 1885 and Richmond, Virginia is the scene of the crime. Did Tommie kill Lillie or was it suicide? Did someone else kill Lillie and try to pin the crime on Tommie? The outcome of the trial will determine whether Tommie lives or goes to the gallows.

The Reservoir by John Milliken Thompson is a moving and fascinating story of two brothers and the woman they both love. Tommie has always had ambition and things came easily for him. He was his parents' favorite child while his brother, Willie, was more easy-going and wanted to live off the land. His goal was to farm the land or be a sawyer. Tommie set out to college and became a lawyer, joining up with the prestigious firm of his mentor.

Both boys were raised by their Aunt Jane. Their younger brother died when he was six years old in a drowning accident and their mother started drinking very heavily. At the same time, their father lost his farm in the depression following the Civil War. Aunt Jane was childless and had money and love to raise the two boys so they were sent to live with her. When Willie was sixteen, their cousin Lillie was also sent to live with Aunt Jane. She was having troubles at home and Aunt Jane took her in.

The novel weaves back and forth in time and we learn that Willie and Lillie were in love for many years. Tommie was engaged to Nola, a neighbor whose family had wealth and land. Though Tommie wasn't in love with Nola, he saw this as a good match for himself, an opportunity to expand his wealth and achieve his social ambitions. He did not intend to fall in love with Lillie, but it happened. Though in love with Lillie, he planned on marrying Nola.

The reader gradually learns that Lillie has family secrets, especially about her father who has been physically abusive and sexually inappropriate with her. Aunt Jane sends Lillie to boarding school for a while and Tommie goes off to college at the same time. Tommie likes to visit the brothels very regularly. In today's parlance, one might consider him a sex addict because he spends money he doesn't have on prostitutes, is obsessed with going to the brothel and makes it a major part of his life.

The novel opens with the following sentence: "On March 14, 1885, a body is floating in the old Marshall Reservoir...". The body turns out to be Lillie and she is eight months pregnant. The first thought is that it was a suicide but there are two sets of footprints. One set appears to belong to Lillie and the other set is a larger size, most likely a man's. The coroner determines that Lillie was killed. A search for the killer begins and all the evidence leads to Tommie. He is picked up and charged with the murder.

The setting of the story and the trial is Richmond, Virginia and the surrounding area. The author gets the feel and ambiance of the environs and time to a tee. The reader can almost smell the streets, feel the political charge in the air and know what it's like to live in Richmond in the late nineteenth century.

Willie and Tommie are very close and as the trial progresses, Willie does everything he can for Tommie. However, does he really believe in his brother's innocence? The early part of the book alludes to Tommie's guilt but as the book progresses it gets much more difficult to figure out how much of a roll Tommie played in Lillie's death or if he killed her at all. The court scenes are exciting and the characters of the defense attorneys and prosecution are very well done.

My only gripe with the book is that the author told me too much, not letting me figure out the subtle emotional backdrop to the story and the people. I wanted to let things play out in my mind and not always see them in black and white, on paper. This is a novel based on an actual criminal case that the author researched. "The details of the case, then, were the fence posts on which I hung the story. The tragic love triangle at its heart was my invention, but it was suggested by the facts."

Mr. Thompson has written several works of non-fiction and has published short stories but this is his debut fiction novel. It is an admirable achievement and one can tell that he knows the south very well. He has lived there all his life and his familiarity with the people and sense of place comes through marvelously in the telling of this tale.
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Sep 28, 2011 Baley Petersen rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: drama, fiction, mystery, romance

>>Original post: http://thereadersbookblog.blogspot.co...

I'm not usually a fan of mystery novels. Not for any particular reason other than they don't usually grab my attention. However, something about The Reservoir intrigued me. Maybe it was because the story is set in 1885. Maybe it was because the mystery revolves around a pregnant dead girl found floating in the town reservoir. Maybe it was because Thompson based his novel on a true story.

There are three characters at the heart of Thom...more >>Original post: http://thereadersbookblog.blogspot.co...

I'm not usually a fan of mystery novels. Not for any particular reason other than they don't usually grab my attention. However, something about The Reservoir intrigued me. Maybe it was because the story is set in 1885. Maybe it was because the mystery revolves around a pregnant dead girl found floating in the town reservoir. Maybe it was because Thompson based his novel on a true story.

There are three characters at the heart of Thompson's novel: Tommie, his brother Willie, and their cousin Lillie. On March 14,1885 a body is found floating in the reservoir in Richmond, Virginia. The body turns out to be a pregnant Lillie. The rest of the book is the story of Tommie's trial for the murder of his cousin, interspersed with Tommie's flashbacks that fill out the narration. Tommie files a not guilty plea, but his private narration alludes to his struggle regarding "the truth". Here is the truth; Thompson has written a novel based on an actual court case that is riddled with holes and unanswered questions. I warn you now, this book doesn't tell you outright if Tommie was guilty or innocent. Which makes The Reservoir a very well constructed character study, because while there is a plot line in this novel, I feel like the plot isn't as important as the people.

Though Tommie is the narrator, this story really belongs to Lillie. Sweet, young, naive Lillie who caught the attention of her Cluverius cousins at a young age, practiced seducing them both, but fell in love with Tommie. When she becomes pregnant, Lillie begs Tommie to marry her, knowing that having a baby out of wedlock will ruin her for marriage with anyone else. But is it actually Tommie's baby? When Tommie--who is on the verge of a bright future in law--rebuffs Lillie, she is devastated. Is it enough for her to take her own life?

The Reservoir is a classic example of excellent storytelling. Thompson has taken a few rusty court case notes and expanded them into a fully dimensional novel. I was slow getting through this one, but the story kept me interested.

Rating: $$

ARC received courtesy of Other Press. (less)

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Jul 27, 2011 Pam rated it 4 of 5 stars

http://iwriteinbooks.wordpress.com/20...

Our story dawns on an 1880′s Virginia, as a reservoir eployee discovers a gruesomely displayed young woman in the water. Lacking any form of identity, her case hits the papers as a tragedy but not one with sinister ties. Assumed an accident and then a suicide, the death is, at first, not the subject of foul play.

Soon, though, between the meddling media and the word of a few questionable souls, blame is turned upon the victim’s cousin, Tommie, a bright and...more http://iwriteinbooks.wordpress.com/20...

Our story dawns on an 1880′s Virginia, as a reservoir eployee discovers a gruesomely displayed young woman in the water. Lacking any form of identity, her case hits the papers as a tragedy but not one with sinister ties. Assumed an accident and then a suicide, the death is, at first, not the subject of foul play.

Soon, though, between the meddling media and the word of a few questionable souls, blame is turned upon the victim’s cousin, Tommie, a bright and rising lawyer. We are given the story through his eyes which, at first, gives a feeling of comraderie and trust. Soon, though, trust becomes something a bit grayer as distrust and wavering beliefe set in. The distrust comes largely in part from Tommie’s possible misrepresentation of the story from his perspective for even though he has a showman’s way with words and fanfare, he is not altogether airtight in many of his arguments, even the ones in his own head. The mystery becomes not one of who, but if, as the town works against scandal and Tommie works against the clock.

Though he is of questionable honesty and innocence, Tommie is a lovable character and I found him much more endearing than many of the other, more two dimensional players on the stage. As many noted in our discussion, yesterday, much of my positive outlook on Tommie, my have come from his cold-blooded, albeit charismatic, portrayal of the events.

The story is told moving forward with big leaps backward to explain just how everyone got into this mess. In another setting, this may have ended up confusing the plot but, I think it worked perfectly, illuminating details as they needed to be revealed. The story, itself, is written well and never falls victim to campy “period” speak. It also, though, comes through with enough legitimate authenticity to stay believable.

I’m not a huge true-crime gal so I was relying on the historical fiction aspect of the story to carry me through. I did find this whole trial and case to be incredibly interesting and well done, though, much to my pleasant surprise. I think that one detail swaying my sympathy for Tommie, can be grounded in my huge distaste for modern media frenzies surrounding trials. There was a huge element of that phenomenon in the book even though the whole story fell over a century before what we think of as media hype, today.

Overall, a fabulously fun drama and one that I think is worth reading for crime and history fans alike.
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Jul 15, 2011 Mary Ronan Drew rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: library-book

I no longer remember where I heard about this novel or what it was that made me want to read it. In any case, I requested it from the library and today I sat down to give it the Nancy Pearl treatment, reading the first 35 pages or so and expecting to then make a note in my database as to why I didn’t want to bother reading the whole book.

But it caught me. The story is based on the death of a young woman in Richmond, Virginia, in 1885. The author has researched the case in newspapers and other ma...more

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Jun 24, 2011 Tj rated it 3 of 5 stars

*Review first appeared at Skull Salad Reviews*

John Milliken Thompson’s debut historical mystery novel, The Reservoir (Other Press, 2011), starts off very promising. We are introduced to a pair of workers at a reservoir who find the body of a young pregnant woman floating lifeless in the water. This is a great set-up for a moody, atmospheric story. We have one character – one of the workers who found the body – fall into infatuation with this young lifeless woman. He takes some items from her tha...more

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Jun 06, 2011 Barbara Mitchell rated it 3 of 5 stars

This book is a difficult one to review. I liked many things about it, first and foremost the story, which is based on a true tragedy.

In March 1885 in Richmond, Virginia, the body of a young pregnant woman is found floating in a reservoir. The back of her head is injured and the weather is quite cold. Many remark how angelic she looks and there is an uproar to learn who is responsible for such a horrid crime. Surely she couldn't have committed suicide. This much of the story is true, according to...more This book is a difficult one to review. I liked many things about it, first and foremost the story, which is based on a true tragedy.

In March 1885 in Richmond, Virginia, the body of a young pregnant woman is found floating in a reservoir. The back of her head is injured and the weather is quite cold. Many remark how angelic she looks and there is an uproar to learn who is responsible for such a horrid crime. Surely she couldn't have committed suicide. This much of the story is true, according to news reports and other documents of the time.

Thompson found the story fascinating and proceeded to research it. Having learned everything he could, he then wrote this novel with some real characters and others fictional. He invented a love triangle, an extended family, and perhaps the killer. The problem is the main character, Tommie Cluverius, and his mind. The victim is his young cousin who had been raped by her father and then went to live with her aunt, the same aunt who has raised Tommie and his brother Willie. This is the dysfunctional family from hell, but Aunt Jane is a good woman who loves all three and does her best by them.

These are classic characters and I think perhaps that fact is what bothered me as I read. One is a simple good man, one is ambitious and willing to do anything to make his dreams come true. Lillie, the victim, is pretty and a handful who is doomed to trouble. Her father is mean through and through. The women are stereotypical for 1885, and so are many of the men.

You can't help reading with bated breath, however, because you can't make up your mind about Tommie. He is like a Jekyll and Hyde person. Which one is the real Tommie? Even though you know from the beginning that Lillie is the woman found in the reservoir, you keep going back and forth about how and why she died.

I enjoyed seeing postwar Richmond depicted so well and how the burning of the city affected 1885 life there. The setting is one of the best things about this book, along with the terrible situation of an unmarried pregnant woman in those days. I recommend reading The Reservoir because the problems with the book aren't worth denying yourself the pleasure of the story. I also recommend a box of tissues nearby. (less)

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May 13, 2011 Barb rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: america-post-civil-war, fictionz-of-real-people, new-in-2011, read-in-2011, vine

This is a bit of a twist on the murder mystery. The first chapter opens on a pregnant Lillie Walker's dead body floating in the reservoir, then a few pages later we are taken back to the previous evening. Tommie Culverius is looking down on her in the water trying to puzzle out what to do with her hat and gloves.

I thought I knew what happened, it seemed obvious, but then John Milliken Thompson made the straight-forward a bit more complicated and gave Tommie Culverius a voice to tell the reader...more This is a bit of a twist on the murder mystery. The first chapter opens on a pregnant Lillie Walker's dead body floating in the reservoir, then a few pages later we are taken back to the previous evening. Tommie Culverius is looking down on her in the water trying to puzzle out what to do with her hat and gloves.

I thought I knew what happened, it seemed obvious, but then John Milliken Thompson made the straight-forward a bit more complicated and gave Tommie Culverius a voice to tell the reader exactly what happened when he and Lillie went to the reservoir.

There were several things that made this story compelling, the first being the relationships between Tommie, Lillie and Tommie's older brother, Willie. Even while I thought I knew what happened to Lillie I still wanted to know why? What happened between Tommie and Lillie that resulted in her dead body being dragged from the reservoir? What were their true feelings for each other? Were Tommie and Willie both guilty of Lillie's death? Once Tommie was taken into questioning the story took on another level of suspense and uncertainty and the question became, not only was he guilty but would he be found guilty? Then other questions followed, Would he be sentenced to death? What if he was innocent? Was there evidence out there or an eye witness who could exonerate him? All of those questions kept me reading, as did my concern for these characters, even more so because they were based on real people.

I want to quote a favorite passage from the book, forgive me if it's overly long.
(Charles was Tommie and Willie's brother who drowned when they were young.)

"On another dreamy afternoon by the river, a somnolent breeze to cool them, Willie was fanning Nola with her folding Chinese fan, its mythical river and green mountains swishing up and down, up and down. Tommie was toying with Lillie's tight sausage curls, and nobody cared because they were under the spell of "Lycidas" from Nola's reading: "He must not float upon his watery bier unwept." Then somebody brought up Charles, and Tommie told how he imagined him going under - drawn to his own image on the dark surface of the water. He talked as they sat by the river, and it was easy, Tommie felt, for in that moment they were all in love. With each other? With life? It didn't matter. They were so young and ripe and filled with passion they could bring the dead into their sacred unity. It was as though they were drunk without drinking anything stronger than lemonade."

Thompson did an excellent job of creating likeable and realistic characters with believable relationships and realistic dialog. For me this achievement is one of the most important measures of a successful novel and in that, as well as the quality of the writing, I give him high marks.
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Apr 19, 2011 Carol rated it 5 of 5 stars

Recommended to Carol by: Kate Henderson, Editor, Other Press

Shelves: fiction

Recently I attended The BooksontheNightstand Reading Retreat in Manchester, Vermont where I had the opportunity to meet and listen to author John Milliken Thompson talk about his forthcoming book, The Reservoir. If I hadn't heard John speak, The Reservoir might not have made it into my hands nor onto to our book shelves. What's the word? fate, serendipity, what ever you call it...I'm pleased I had the opportunity to read this excellent novel.

The Reservoir is being pitched as a mystery and that i...more

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Jun 23, 2011 Susan rated it 4 of 5 stars

"...all human affairs are matters of doubt." So says one of the prosecuting attorneys during closing arguments in the sensational 1885 murder trial of Cluverius v. Commonwealth, which author John Milliken Thompson used as the true basis for this engrossing murder mystery. He says in his notes at the end of the book that he came across a description of the trial in a book on the history of Richmond, Virginia, and was so intrigued he had to dig deeper. Thompson says he integrated much of his resea...more "...all human affairs are matters of doubt." So says one of the prosecuting attorneys during closing arguments in the sensational 1885 murder trial of Cluverius v. Commonwealth, which author John Milliken Thompson used as the true basis for this engrossing murder mystery. He says in his notes at the end of the book that he came across a description of the trial in a book on the history of Richmond, Virginia, and was so intrigued he had to dig deeper. Thompson says he integrated much of his research into the book but "most of the pre- and post-trial story is of my own creation." He also says he invented the "tragic love triangle" of brothers Willie and Tommie Cluverius both being in love with their cousin Lillie Madison, but felt it was suggested by the facts.

Thompson's debut novel worked very well for me as a historical mystery, one of my favorite genres. It had all the vital ingredients for a gripping whodunit: complex, nuanced characters, historical accuracy and atmosphere, and a steady ratcheting up of tension leading to a stunning courtroom climax. A mystery novel, of course, generally has an "ah-ha!" moment where all is revealed and the puzzle solved; since this story is based on a real-life case, the ending is a foregone conclusion. Thompson brilliantly crafts a gripping story by delving into the questions hanging over the case to this day - did Tommie kill his cousin Lillie? Was he the father of the baby she was carrying? Or did poor Lillie, a single girl, drown herself in despair over her pregnancy? As the prosecutor admits, there were doubts and a lot of the evidence was circumstantial. Indeed, after the conviction as Tommie awaited sentencing, several jurors publicly announced they had changed their minds about his guilt and there was a groundswell of public support to reverse the guilty verdict (driven largely through Willie's relentless efforts on his brother's behalf).

I was fascinated by the multi-layered main characters Thompson created based on these real people; Lillie and Willie seemed especially tragic, and Tommie seemed like the poster child for ruined potential! I wasn't sure at first about the direction the story took toward the last quarter or so of the book, after Tommie was convicted and awaiting sentencing. I don't want to give away any spoilers, but Tommie confessed some things to his brother Willie that really (I thought) gob-smacked the reader - the plot twisted and then sharply twisted again until you really weren't sure what happened out at the reservoir. Thompson used the doubts surrounding the whole case to layer on the psychological tension until the reader felt like they were on a roller coaster, right at the top of the highest drop, teetering inevitably toward that final, dreadful plunge. Very impressive! I found the tale gripping right to the end and would recommend this to any fan of historical mysteries, historical fiction, or psychological thrillers. A great debut - I look forward to seeing what the author writes next.

I received this book free through the Amazon Vine program.(less)

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Feb 07, 2012 John rated it 3 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Apr 12, 2011 Jo Ann rated it 4 of 5 stars

Oh. My. Gosh. I was given this advanced copy book at a workshop John Milliken Thompson gave in Vermont this past weekend, and once I began the book, I couldn't put it down. John began the book as non-fiction, as it's based on a true story of a young 8 month pregnant woman found floating in Richmond, Virginia's reservoir in March of 1885. Mr. Thompson switched to fiction, and it is a page-turner! It makes me want to find the newpaper and court records of the actual events. John's delightful young...more

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May 30, 2012 Nlimprecht rated it 4 of 5 stars

I wanted to read this book after hearing the author read the beginning pages at the National Book Festival in DC. I generally do not like mysteries. I am curious about novels that base themselves in fact and use a novelist's perogative to invent everything that the historian can't know. In this case, there was an awful lot of material that the historian had to work with and it was genuinely interesting. The mystery at the center of the story--the degree of Tommie's involvement/responsibility for...more

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Jul 26, 2011 Michelle added it

The Reservoir is one of those fascinating true-life mysteries that is fleshed out through fiction. A woman named Lillian was truly found dead in a reservoir in Richmond, Virigina and Tommie Cluverius did stand trial for her murder. Yet, the truth is stranger than fiction, as Mr. Thompson shares with his readers through this intriguing look at 1885 Richmond and a city that was struggling to recover its dignity after the end of the Civil War.

The key to the success behind The Reservoir is the metic...more The Reservoir is one of those fascinating true-life mysteries that is fleshed out through fiction. A woman named Lillian was truly found dead in a reservoir in Richmond, Virigina and Tommie Cluverius did stand trial for her murder. Yet, the truth is stranger than fiction, as Mr. Thompson shares with his readers through this intriguing look at 1885 Richmond and a city that was struggling to recover its dignity after the end of the Civil War.

The key to the success behind The Reservoir is the meticulous research that oozes from every page. The reader has no problems picturing the town through which Tommie and Lillian ultimately meet their fates or the various scenes of society life portrayed. The glorification of the dead Confederacy and romanticising of its heroes plays a role in each of the character's backgrounds and in the characters that have the most impact upon them; while Mr. Thompson could have made a mockery of a society that is stuck in the glory days, he handles this tricky scenario with delicacy and feeling. In addition, the truth behind the murder remains as murky at the ending of the novel as at the beginning. While this could be construed as frustrating to some, it is a testament to the messiness of life and the difficulties behind discerning the truth from lies. Like real life, The Reservoir has no clear-cut answers or definitive solutions to a problem. The authenticity of the times and of life in general helps to create a strong narrative.

Unfortunately, where The Reservoir struggles is with its characters. The narration flips back and forth between points of view as well as past and present. This keeps the reader from sympathizing too much with any one character, or even from forming a connection with one or the other. Instead, the reader stays impartial, and therefore unengaged, in Lillian's emotional outbursts or Tommie's conniving ways. Mr. Thompson does not attempt to hide the flaws in his characters, but this also detracts from the narration because the reader cannot discern the truth from the fiction, even when one character is telling his or her side of the story. Since the reader does not truly care about the characters, it is difficult to feel the tension behind the proceedings, thereby minimizing the suspense or even interest.

The pacing is another weak point with The Reservoir . The switching between narrators and time periods is uneven and somewhat jarring in spots. The story itself speeds up and slows down at an unsteady pace. The reader will be struggling to get through a section, will all but speed-read through another, only to get bogged down again into another slow and somewhat boring section. There is no rhyme or reason for this unevenness, as it occurs with all narrators, in the past as well as in the present. In a mystery, this is a fundamental flaw.

The Reservoir is not a novel for those who like their stories tied up with tidy endings. It is for those who appreciate the darker, more complicated mysteries, as well as those who can appreciate the depth of research required to take the skeleton of a story idea and flesh it out to create a fully-realized hypothesis of an event that occurred over 100 years ago.

Thank you to Other Press and Nicole from Linus's Blanket for my reading copy!
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Jun 11, 2011 Shana rated it 4 of 5 stars

Usually, I really enjoy true crime novels. Out of my Vine selections something about "The Reservoir" really piqued my interest. Maybe it was because the story is set in 1885. Perhaps, it was because the mystery is about a pregnant dead girl found floating in the town reservoir. I'd never heard of this story before I read about it in "The Reservoir".

There are three main characters in this novel: Tommie, his brother Willie, and their cousin Lillie. On March 14,1885 a body is found floating in the...more

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Aug 11, 2011 Jen rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: mystery-crime-detective, period-fiction, va-book

Oh, this was a fun one! Thompson is a history dude who ran across this sensational 1885 murder case that took place in Richmond, VA - just an hour from where I live. He did tons of research into the historical case, and then he novelized it to fill in the gaps.

A pregnant woman was discovered dead in the city reservoir. At first, it appeared to be suicide; then it became clear that it was murder. The investigation unravels a love triangle between the woman and two brothers as well as an abusive f...more

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May 05, 2011 Elizabeth B rated it 4 of 5 stars

This was an intriguing piece of writing. It starts off very dry, matter of fact, almost like a newspaper report of events. Those short, succinct sentences serve the reader well, though, as the events begin to unfold and you get carried along with wanting to know what happens next. The structure of the novel makes you want to keep reading just a little bit more until you realize you’ve now read several chapters more than you intended. The plot unfurls nicely and the author takes you along as a wi...more

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Apr 24, 2011 Rod Moser rated it 5 of 5 stars

I couldn't put this book down.

I love reading about this period of time and I was hooked almost immediately. The development of the characters was terrific. I felt every emotion as I read through the tragedy.

This story was based on a true story that occured shortly after the civil war. It made me realize how short our turn is on the world and how the choices we make can have such a tremendous impact on ourselves and those close to us.

You really don't know what a person is capable of, even if...more

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Apr 09, 2012 Leann rated it 3 of 5 stars

I stumbled on to this book on the online library when desperate to just check something out to download to my Kindle and get on with it. (Nothing else I wanted to read was available.)

While the pacing is slow, and I almost quit the book at first, I'm glad I stuck with it. The author, a historian, tells a fictionalized account of a real court case that occurred due to a murder (or not?) of a pregnant woman in 1885 Richmond, VA. As an attorney, I enjoyed seeing differences in the court room proced...more

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Aug 06, 2011 Judy rated it 4 of 5 stars

It's 1885 in post-Civil War and post-Reconstruction Richmond, Virginia and a pregnant young woman is found floating in the city's reservoir. Was it suicide, an accident, or was she murdered? Once Lilly Madison is identified, Tommy Cluverius, an ambitious young lawyer, is arrested and charged with her murder. Based on an actual case, the back story is carefully crafted and the trial was held amidst sensational newspaper coverage that inflamed the public and focused the attention of the entire reg...more

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Jul 21, 2011 Erica Spangler rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: july-reading-challenge-tbr-list, arc, reviewed

Title: The Reservoir

Author: John Milliken Thompson

Publisher: Other Press

Rating: 4 Shots of Espresso (Red Eye)

Southern literature that alludes to back country brawls and family duels have become my guilty pleasures since reading Southern literature from the last three years. Whether the characters are gouging eyes out or the characters are lawyers on trial for murder, I am right there reading the drama until it dries up. And fortunately, the drama has yet to do so…

John Milliken Thompson’s debut n...more Title: The Reservoir

Author: John Milliken Thompson

Publisher: Other Press

Rating: 4 Shots of Espresso (Red Eye)

Southern literature that alludes to back country brawls and family duels have become my guilty pleasures since reading Southern literature from the last three years. Whether the characters are gouging eyes out or the characters are lawyers on trial for murder, I am right there reading the drama until it dries up. And fortunately, the drama has yet to do so…

John Milliken Thompson’s debut novel, The Reservoir, fictionally depicts the real life trial of Commonwealth v. Cluverius. Thompson takes the research of a nineteenth century murder case and creates a historical recreation of Southern life in 1885. The Reservoir follows the family of Tommie Cluverius and his family love triangle between Tommie, his brother Willie and cousin Lillie. What more could a reader want or even need? I should leave it at that, but I am a recovering English major (meaning: I can’t keep quiet!)

The Reservoir begins with Tommie leaving the scene and the workers at the reservoir finding Lillie’s dead and pregnant body floating in the water. The mysterious story-telling slowly reveals the details of a family with many horrific allegations and secrets, which keeps the pace of the novel raging like a river. The story is told through different characters as the focalizers, which adds several dynamics to each character. The reader can see the character as both good and bad; this makes it much harder to cast judgment and just as hard to empathize with them too. The reader is just as unsure of what is fact and what is not as Thompson must have been while researching for this novel. We, as readers, and Thompson, as the researcher, can only speculate on what was the background on the case; this position almost places a reader in the place of a juror who can only judge based on the evidence given in court. In fact, I was reading The Reservoir just after the verdict of the Casey Anthony trial, where almost everyone was mad about the acquittal. Thompson’s novel allows the viewer of the trial to empathize with a juror who only knows what is present in court.

The historically Southern family dynamics, then, kept me going in order to find out how the trial ended up. The role of females in the Cluverius family and extended family were so interesting but also extremely repulsive. I felt rather uncomfortable at times while I was reading about some of the allegations. The ethical hierarchy becomes so skewed that I don’t know how they find ways to justify certain acts. But then again, the lack of female power seems to be always at the core of what happens in Thompson’s The Reservoir. This drama is sure to keep anyone interested.

I recommend The Reservoir to all Southern literary fiends and lovers of historical fiction because the reader becomes consumed by the time period and culture. As I said earlier, I happened to have read Thompson’s novel just after the end of the Casey Anthony trial, which added to the craze that people seem to get while watching a high profile murder case. The Reservoir, also, captures that craze rather well.

I give Thompson’s The Reservoir four shots of espresso for its ease to keep me captivated in the Southern world of Tommie Cluverius. My missing shot came at the end when the novel kept explaining and kept lingering on the appellate process. I would have enjoyed the novel more so without that section because it kept drawing on and on; however, I still thoroughly enjoyed the novel and could definitely benefit from reading the novel a second time through.

I am happy to support the nonfiction writer turned novelist Mr. John Milliken Thompson and his Independent publisher, Other Press. I am truly excited to promote The Reservoir just as Thompson is about to make a Northern California appearance in person and a virtual appearance on my blog next week. I had the wonderful pleasure of interviewing Mr. Thompson, which I will make available as he tours in Northern California next week. Keep a look out for that! Happy Book Tours!
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Dec 19, 2011 Monika rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: crime, historical-fiction, 2011-reads, southern-setting

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Jul 30, 2011 Lou rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: arc, july-read

There is is a noose waiting, waiting to tighten on a neck. That neck better be the killer of one stirred heart of a girl an expectant mother.

Stirred hearts, love and friendship.

Many hearts wavered by one rather beautiful empty Heart, a web of family intrigue.

Justice is the key, the good should rise above the evil ideally as the common rule.

This story is one to be talked about for many years to come one I hold it highly up there with the greats of Human struggle, greats like 'To Kill a Mockingbir...more

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Aug 30, 2011 Caitlin rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: crime, historical-fiction

[Note: I'd give this one 3.5 stars if I could.] The Reservoir took me a while to read...I found the beginning very slow. But overall, I wound up enjoying the story as a detailed and intriguing blend of historical fiction, crime, and courtroom drama. In Richmond, Virginia in the year 1885, a young pregnant woman is discovered floating in the city reservoir one morning. Investigators soon uncover the woman, Lillie's, past, including her stormy affair with Tommie Cluverius, who becomes the primary...more

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Aug 26, 2011 Becky rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: bookclub

Based a real 1880's court case, a pregnant woman is found dead in a reservoir outside of Richmond, Virginia. From the start, the finger is pointed at her cousin Tommie, with whom she was romantically interested. The first half of the novel is interesting, but as the novel continues, the trial becomes dull - and no new information is given to the reader. It is basically like reading the same novel twice, once from the character's point of view and then hearing it all again in court. When the nove...more

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Jul 20, 2011 Lady rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: own

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. I won John Milliken Thompson's The Reservoir in a Goodreads Giveaway. Thank you so much to those who gifted me with this book.

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Thompson's The Reservoir is a novel about a young woman, 8 months pregnant, found dead in the city of Richmond, VA's water source - the reservoir - and the hunt for her killer.

What makes the story so chilling is that it is based on the real-life murder of Fannie Lillian Madison (who preferred the name 'Lillian'), whose cousin, Thomus Judson Cluverius (who preferr...more I won John Milliken Thompson's The Reservoir in a Goodreads Giveaway. Thank you so much to those who gifted me with this book.

*********

Thompson's The Reservoir is a novel about a young woman, 8 months pregnant, found dead in the city of Richmond, VA's water source - the reservoir - and the hunt for her killer.

What makes the story so chilling is that it is based on the real-life murder of Fannie Lillian Madison (who preferred the name 'Lillian'), whose cousin, Thomus Judson Cluverius (who preferred the name 'Tommie'), was determined by a jury of 12 men to have been her murderer. After a 2 year trial, he was sentenced to death and hanged by a braided silk rope, which did not drop him abruptly the way traditional "hanging ropes" do. Instead of his neck breaking immediately upon being dropped from the scaffold, Tommie took a little over 10 minutes to strangle to death, as the silk rope simply stretched to accomodate his weight.

Tommie's motive for murder was thought to have been stunningly simple. He had impregnated his cousin, Lillian, and was desperate to save himself and his law career (for he was a lawyer in Richmond) from the scandal of having fathered a child with his unmarried cousin. So he took her out for a walk in March of 1885, hit her hard in the head, the blow stunning Lillian into near-unconsciousness, and threw her down the embankment leading to the reservoir, where she subsequently drowned. The fetus, a male, did not survive. Mother and son were buried together in Richmond. Tommie was buried in the family plot in the outskirts of Richmond. Today, a huge tree hangs over the family burial ground, obscuring it from view and rendering exploration of the plot exceedingly difficult.

Thompson's writing is splendid, blending elegance with brevity and stirring a good deal of pathos into the mixture. Though the characters' dialogue is by necessity invented by Thompson, based on records pertaining to the murder case, it is nonetheless believable. A few details were changed - in Thompson's book, Lillian's fetus is a girl, and Tommie confesses privately to his brother the motives behind the murder and how he did it. In reality, Tommie maintained (publicly, at least) to the very end that he was innocent of murdering his cousin, despite the fact that all physical evidence pointed to his being the killer.

The novelization of this true crime story is magnificent, engendering within the reader feelings of sadness, anger, curiosity, and a poignant tenderness for Lillian and her hapless circumstances: She came from an abused home, and wound up dead at the hands of the cousin she had come to love and trust. Thompson's writing is so vivid, in fact, that I felt almost literally drawn into the story and was thusly compelled to look up the case myself online. I was confronted with photographs of Lillian and Tommie. This left me shaken, as the distance between this 126 year old murder case and I was shrunk to practically nothing when gazing upon the faces of these two people. Lillian is small, sprightly, her eyes sparkling; Tommie is a blonde Heathcliff, with huge, moody eyes and an expressive mouth.

These people lived and died because of one another. And in Thompson's book, they live and die again.(less)

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