This was one of those books that I wanted to read forever, because the language was so lovely. I also really appreciated its structure. The novel is separated into sections, each an elegy to someone important in the narrator's life who has died. It's one of those books where, although you know the character's fate, you wish there was something that you could do to change the course of the pages. It's one of those novels where when you finish the section, you think, "How will there be someone as interesting, someone that I care about so much in the next section"? There is.
It's an emotional book. It's a smart book. Hodgen has created a qulirky world, but in the center of it, our narrator provides us an anchor. Mary Murphy tells the tale. The story starts off with her childhood and ends when she is an adult. In her eyes, she is the least interesting person in her world, and in fact, in a way she is. She is surrounded by charismatic, unstable people, larger than life personas who she survives. But she gives the humanity to the book. She infuses those around her, who may have seemed like cartoons without her presence, with ballast. She is able to introduce them to us and to pay tribute to them in such a way that we understand their beauty, that we are truly sad at their passing.
The transition from one passage to another is ingenious, and it's part of the beauty of the book to see the connection between the subject of the section and the narrator and her story. So I will not say any details about who any of these people are and let you have the wonder of discovery as you read this book. This is one of those books that I will definitely read again. It's one of those novels where, when I see a friend who loves to read, I will very enthusiastically say, "Let me tell you about this book."
