Things in Jars by Jess Kidd

Jess Kidd loves words.  The words seem to spill out of her--whirling around, creating vivid images and wonderful prose with unexpected juxtapositions and all kinds of figurative language.  They don't feel like deliberate choices as much as thoughts emerging from someone whose use of language is so imaginative, fresh, and creative that she can't contain it.

I loved Himself for those reasons and more, but liked Mr. Flood's Last Resort (also titled The Hoarder) less.  Kidd's characters, however, are wonderful even when the plot is a little iffy.

Her latest book, Things in Jars--especially with Kidd's amazing prose--is a mystery, a fairy tale, a nightmare, magical realism, a ghost story, social commentary, a mysterious amalgamation of genres that does not fit any one category.

Set in 1863, Bridie Devine, private investigator with a connection to the police, smokes her pipe on her way to inspect a crypt with the skeleton remains of a mother and child...and finds the transparent figure of former boxer Ruby Doyle lounging on his grave.  She doesn't believe in ghosts, yet the marvelously tattooed Ruby Doyle (The Decorated Doyle), definitely dead and transparent, seems to know her.  And so the story begins.

Ruby Doyle, the decorated pugilist whose tattoos move and react to situations, becomes Bridie's (initially) unwanted partner.  Doyle knows Bridie, but Bridie cannot remember ever knowing Doyle.  He accompanies her home and on her adventures, waiting for Bridie to remember him and their connection, and Bridie's feelings for Ruby Doyle confuse her as she begins to appreciate  his company.

The main story line begins when Bridie is engaged to find the kidnapped daughter of a baronet.  Christabel Berwick, a strange six-year-old with unusual powers and strange needle-like teeth, is a mystery in and of herself.  Is Christabel the embodiment of the Irish myth of the merrow?  Bridie suspects a possible reason for the little girl's kidnapping...and she doesn't like it at all.

Interspersing chapters reveal more of Bridie's past and diverge to examine the activities of other characters.  Each character is the delightful result of descriptions amplified in the style of Dickens as in this description of Cridge, the curate:

"He is a young man with an unfavorable look about him.  Slight of stature and large of head, with light-brown hair that cleaves thinly to an ample cranium with bumps and contours enough to astound even a practiced phrenologist.  His complexion is wan and floury as an overcooked potato and his mouth was made for sneering."

Moving from past to present and back again, threads that are begun in the past are gradually woven into the present.  Aside from such wonderful characters as Bridie herself, we meet Ruby Doyle, Cora (Bridie's seven foot tall housemaid), Bad Dorcas, the Prudhoes, Valentine Rose, and wicked Gideon Eames.  London becomes both setting and character in this fantastical adventure.

It is difficult not to become enchanted by Kidd's prose, although it occasionally interrupts the plot. :)

Read in November; blog review scheduled for Jan. 19, 2020.

NetGalley/Atria Books
?Historical Mystery/Fantasy?  Feb. 4, 2020.  Print length:  384 pages.

Midnight at the Tuscany Hotel by James Markert and Murder Served Cold by Eric Brown

Beautiful cover, strange book.

description: For years, guests of the Tuscany Hotel could leave their pasts behind and live among fellow artists. Now guests of a different sort fill the rooms, searching for their memories—no matter the cost.

A lot of Greek mythology in this one, something I usually love.  However, although crucial to the story, I found the mythology a bit over the top.  The book fits the magical realism genre, mixing miracles and muses and myth.  Some books are really hard to review, I'm going for Lark's haiku review style:


Lost your memory?
Visit Tuscany Hotel
Remember the past.

Didn't love it, but...

Read in December; blog post scheduled for March 22, 2019.

NetGalley/Thomas Nelson
Fantasy/Magical Realism.  April 9, 2019.  Print length:  352 pages.

Murder Served Cold is part of a series by Eric Brown that takes advantage of the popularity of more traditional mysteries like those of the 1920's and 30's.  Brown sets the story in the post-war British countryside of the 1950's.  

The novel borrows much from the Golden Age of Detective Fiction style, but has the slightly more modern (if still historical) setting of post-war Britain.  

A country house converted to a sort of boarding house as a result of huge estate taxes, an odd-lot of permanent guests, a missing painting, and of course, a murder.  The series features Donald Langham and Ralph Ryland as private investigators, who are hired to find the stolen painting. They solve that conundrum fairly quickly by finding the painting, but not who took it.  Add a little blackmail and murder and a couple of cocktail hours.

I liked Langham and Ryland and thought they felt genuine for the time period.   Brown did a good job with the 50's setting and the "vintage" writing  style.

In addition to this series, Eric Brown also writes science fiction (for which he has won several awards) and children's books.

Read in December; blog post scheduled for March 22, 2019

NetGalley/Severn House
Mystery.  April 1, 2019.  Print length:  208 pages.

Himself by Jess Kidd

Oh, how I loved the first of Himself.  The writing, the quirky characters, the Brigadoon-ish Irish town which was definitely NOT Brigadoon.  I've mentioned before that I'm ambivalent about magical realism--loving some, but mostly not enthralled.  The ones I've loved, however, have been marvelous with the perfect balance of magic and real life.

For me, the lyrical prose that makes the acceptance of magic in the real world possible--is the key to whether or not I can slip into the story.  Jess Kidd's prose is lyrical and poetic, a  mixture of images, humor, and story telling that flows almost like music.

Raised in a Catholic orphanage, Mahoney is 26 when he receives a letter and a phoograph that upends his previous assumptions that he was abandoned by his mother.  He leaves Dublin and travels to the small village of Mulderrig to find out more.  

His arrival disturbs the village in various ways.  The entire village "almost" recognizes him from the first, but his personal charm carries the day... until the villagers realize that Mahoney is Orla's Sweeney's son.  Then the secrets that have been long hidden cause a dilemma of emotions.  

Almost everyone insists that Orla left the village with her infant 26 years ago, but old Mrs. Cauley becomes Mahoney's ally and abettor, and the two of them--the handsome young man and the fragile, bald old actress--investigate what they believe to be a murder.

Although a little ambivalent about Mahoney, I loved Mrs. Cauley and Bridget.  I had several quibbles as the book progressed, but the first half of the book makes everything worth it, and I am eager to hear more from Jess Kidd.  

Read in Dec.; blog post scheduled for Feb. 27, 2017

NetGalley/Atria Books

Literary Fiction.  March 15, 2017.  Print length:  384 pages.

The Book of Speculation by Erika Swyler

Simon, a young librarian who lives in a house threatened by the encroaching sea, receives an old book in the mail.  Sent by a bookseller named Martin Churchwarry, a note included with the book says that Churchwarry bought the book on speculation at an auction and tracked one of the names inside, leading him to Simon's family.

So--an old book (very 0ld)--about a traveling carnival in the 1700's, a book connected to Simon's family.  The partially damaged book tells of women in the family with careers as carnival mermaids; women who drowned young on July 24th, from generation to generation.

July 24th is approaching, a kind of due date for our hapless librarian; Simon's sister is coming home.  Already rattled by his crumbling house and losing his job at the library, now Simon must confront the possibility that his sister is in danger.

A book that has been half drowned in a flood. A house on the verge of drowning.  Women in the same family who drown on the exact same date.  A young man drowning in complications and the secrets he uncovers.  Intriguing?  Add Tarot cards, supernatural/magical realism elements, the odd match of carnival characters and librarians, a curse, two time frames, odd and intricate connections...

A book full of potential, but that sometimes seemed to fall a bit off the mark.  I can't explain exactly why without spoilers, but one reason (for me) was that the characters were a little remote and strangely impersonal for a story that purported more...energy.  The pacing was also slow and sometimes repetitive.

As usual, my favorite character was the a secondary one.  Doyle, the tattooed man.  He was (tongue-in-cheek--Tentacular!) and had the most likable personality.  

This is a debut novel, and an enjoyable one with a distinctive flair.  I look forward to more from Erika Swyler.

NetGalley/St. Martin's Press

Literary fiction.  June 23, 2015.  Print length:  352 pages.

The Red Magician by Lisa Goldstein

The Red Magician

Fairy tale?  Magical realism?  Allegory? Jewish fantasy?  Holocaust story?

All are true.  Voros, the Red Magician, foresees the Holocaust and tries to warn people, but he cannot be specific, and the idea of leaving their ordinary lives to flee a vague and unbelievable danger is beyond the scope of most people.

Kisci is a young girl in one of the villages, and she becomes very attached to Voros and tries to aid him.  But a confrontation with a stubborn and misguided magical Rabbi ends with Voros moving on.

Things in the village proceed for a few years, but eventually the Germans arrive and the villagers who survive end up in the camps.  Kisci barely survives until the end of the war, but Voros finds her and nurses her back to health.  The two have one more journey to make.

A tale of faith and the lack of faith, of vengeance and of guilt, of Jewish mysticism, magic, and the harsh realities of Holocaust.

I can't say I loved it, but The Red Magician was provocative.  I've never been entirely comfortable with magical realism-- it always leaves me with a kind of dissonance and that is certainly true in this case. 

"Lisa Goldstein has published ten novels and dozens of short stories under her own name and two fantasy novels under the pseudonym Isabel Glass. Her most recent novel is The Uncertain Places, which won the Mythopoeic Award. Goldstein received the National Book Award for The Red Magician."

NetGalley/Open Road Media

Magical Realism/Fantasy.  Originally published in 1982; new publication Oct. 21, 2014.  Print length:  144 pages.  

The Wishing Thread by Lisa Van Allen

The Wishing Thread  is magical realism in the lighter vein of Joanne Harris, Sarah Addison Allen, and Alice Hoffman.  

• 
  

Book Description:   

The Van Ripper women have been the talk of Tarrytown, New York, for centuries. Some say they’re angels; some say they’re crooks. In their tumbledown “Stitchery,” not far from the stomping grounds of the legendary Headless Horseman, the Van Ripper sisters—Aubrey, Bitty, and Meggie—are said to knit people’s most ardent wishes into beautiful scarves and mittens, granting them health, success, or even a blossoming romance. But for the magic to work, sacrifices must be made—and no one knows that better than the Van Rippers.

A little magic, a little romance, a little family reconciliation.  Neither the characters nor the plot lived up to my expectations or sufficiently engaged my interest, but then I'm not a huge fan of magical realism despite having read a few that I enjoyed.  Love the cover, though!

NetGalley/Random  House, Ballentine.

Magical Realism.  Sept. 3, 2013.  Print version:  400 pages.

• ISBN-10: 0345538552

Peaches for Father Francis

Peaches for Father Francis continues the story of Vianne Rocher which Harris began with Chocolat.  Vianne returns to Lansquenet with her daughters Anouk and Rosette after receiving a letter from her friend Armande Voizin.  The letter was written before Armande's death, but by a strange (magical?) coincidence, makes its way to Vianne at a time when her presence is indeed needed.

What Vianne finds in Lansquenet is a community divided by culture and religion:  Catholic and Muslim.  To add to the strange atmosphere, Father Francis, Vianne's former nemesis, needs her help.

Although there are magical and evocative portions (typical Harris in creating a living atmosphere), I found much of the novel a bit forced.  Nevertheless, if you've enjoyed previous books in the Chocolat series, you will appreciate the opportunity to catch up on some of the characters.

An ARC e-book from Netgalley.  Publication date:  Oct. 2

Fiction.  Magical Realism.  2012.  print version:  464 pages.

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

The Night Circus has been on my list for quite a while, and recently, the library had an available copy.  This one has been read and reviewed so many times that you may not want to bother with reading another review.

I can say that it didn't disappoint in the realm of imagery.  The Night Circus is a visual feast that makes black and white magical and chimerical.  The descriptions are beautiful, enticing, seductive, and you want to experience the magic for yourself, to wander among the tents, have your fortune told, and to marvel at the illusions.

My relationship with magical realism is ambivalent, and while  I've loved some books in this category, others have left me cold.  The Night Circus falls on the more positive side of this division, but as lovely as the package, the content was not completely satisfying.

The language, the descriptions, the originality, and the creative imagination of the book are tremendously appealing, but the pacing, the chronological shifts, and the thin characters are a drawback.

I really enjoyed the book, but I did want it to be more, to be fuller in some way.  Morgenstern is a conjurer herself, creating a beautiful and enticing atmosphere that the reader gladly enters with all of the curiosity and amazement of the reveurs who follow the circus from place to place.  If only I could have connected more with the characters....

This is, however, Morgenstern's first novel, and she has created a work of remarkable art and beauty.  I definitely look forward to more from this author.



Fiction.  Fantasy/Magical Realism.  2011.  387 pages.

1Q84 by Haruki Murakami

I'm still not sure what I think about 1Q84.  It is the first book I've read by the celebrated Murakami, who has a large and devoted following.

The book is so very long that even though I read with interest, when I'd put it down, I felt no great longing to return to it.  I ended up reading several books even as I kept plugging away at this one.

The plot is strangely uncompelling, especially given the weird details like a dead goat that functions as conduit for...something, but still not clear what, an air chrysalis that produces...a doppleganger?, a weird cult, and a parallel world with two moons.

Curiosity about how all the strange events hung together and about a possible solution brought me back to the book.

Some disjointed thoughts about style and content:

-filler...paragraph after paragraph, detail after detail

-repetitions--characters repeat themselves, the author repeats himself; literally and in paraphrase

-lots of allusions to popular culture, music, and literature; mostly Western

-loose ends:  his father, his mother/the nurse in cat town/the girl friend, the professor, Fuka-Eri, Janacek's Sinfonietta, Sagikake-its strange perverse rituals and its purpose

-such a strange landscape of a novel; vague, amorphous; dream-like

In the end, I found that loose ends remained.  My curiosity--unsatisfied.

The novel is purported to be a love story, and I suppose it was.  My final opinion hasn't gelled on any aspect of the novel.   I didn't hate it.  I didn't particularly like it.  But I suspect that images from this novel will remain with me which, considering the books I've read that have totally evaporated from my mind whether I enjoyed them or not, is saying something.

Who else has read this?  What do you think?

Fiction.  I don't know how to classify this one.  Alternate history? Dystopian?  Magical Realism?  2011.  944 pages.

Garden Spells

Allen, Sarah Addison. Garden Spells.

6 word synopsis: Practical Magic redux. Light, lovely, charming.

Fun read with charming characters, magic, and romance. The Waverly clan from Bascom, North Carolina, are in possession of a magic apple tree and unique talents. I couldn't put Garden Spells down and although much of it is predictable, that was exactly what I wanted. A feel-good book with likable, if flawed, characters; character development might be a bit light, but suits the fairy-tale atmosphere.

I especially liked Evanelle, the 79 year old aunt who jogs in order to watch the cute behinds of young men and is compelled to give strange, but prophetic gifts. The conclusion is a bit abrupt, but overall, I had a great time with this magical little tale. An evening's read.

I found this one on the library shelf, loved the cover, and remembered that Bookfool had liked it. Her review is here.

Fiction. Magical realism. 2007. 290 pages.

The Girl with No Shadow

Harris, Joanne. The Girl with No Shadow. Did you enjoy Chocolat? This novel is the sequel and carries on with the lives of Vianne and Anouk. Chocolat is one of the rare instances in which I preferred the film to the novel, but I very much enjoyed The Girl with No Shadow which, admittedly, has some serious differences from its predecessor.

The story is told from multiple points of view and is, therefore, a bit confusing each time the narrator switches because the voices are not much different and the commentary is usually about the same events, regardless of narrator. I found it a minor inconvenience and, perhaps, a deliberate one as there are certain elements in common with each narrator that Harris might have wanted to emphasize. One of the elements, of course, is magic. Vianne is not currently indulging in magic, Anouk isn't sure if magic is real or if certain events are "accidents," and Zozie uses magic with the selfish abandon.

Fairy tale elements are obvious throughout, but not in the same way as in Chocolat -- this story is magic vs magic.

This ARC was a surprise, as I was unaware that Harris was working on a sequel.

Fiction. Magic & Mystery. 2008.

Another review: Les' Book Nook