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Last book on the list! This one was recommended by ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
webcowgirl. I suppose you could call it magic realist, but the way in which the magic is tackled (sceptical yet matter-of-fact) made it feel more like fantasy or spec-fic. I certainly preferred it to most of the magic realist books I've read.
The well-researched 18th c French background was great - the narrative voice felt genuine (NB my knowledge of 18th c Fr is of course minimal so cannot actually confirm accuracy, but it felt appropriately detailed & certainly didn't have anything obviously erroneous). The human interactions were the focus, though, and the detail and emotion of those interactions were fascinating. Given that I like spec-fic, historical fiction, and books with people that actually feel like real people who interact with one another and who I am able to care about, it was hitting most of my buttons. The bit that didn't entirely work was the "people who I am able to care about" - too many of the characters were a bit too unsympathetic, and the ones I found more interesting were least present in the story (doubtless deliberate; the feel of it was that of a a very specific and individual perspective, and that person's limitations in terms of provider-of-the-narrative were obvious).
It does go Heavily Grim at the end, which I could have done without (it wasn't entirely a shock, but it was a bit more than anticipated), but not enough to put me off the book. I'll be investigating whether she's done anything else.
(Sorry, this is a bit of a lame-arse review, because it is late & I have been onna train for over 7 hrs.)
webcowgirl. I suppose you could call it magic realist, but the way in which the magic is tackled (sceptical yet matter-of-fact) made it feel more like fantasy or spec-fic. I certainly preferred it to most of the magic realist books I've read.The well-researched 18th c French background was great - the narrative voice felt genuine (NB my knowledge of 18th c Fr is of course minimal so cannot actually confirm accuracy, but it felt appropriately detailed & certainly didn't have anything obviously erroneous). The human interactions were the focus, though, and the detail and emotion of those interactions were fascinating. Given that I like spec-fic, historical fiction, and books with people that actually feel like real people who interact with one another and who I am able to care about, it was hitting most of my buttons. The bit that didn't entirely work was the "people who I am able to care about" - too many of the characters were a bit too unsympathetic, and the ones I found more interesting were least present in the story (doubtless deliberate; the feel of it was that of a a very specific and individual perspective, and that person's limitations in terms of provider-of-the-narrative were obvious).
It does go Heavily Grim at the end, which I could have done without (it wasn't entirely a shock, but it was a bit more than anticipated), but not enough to put me off the book. I'll be investigating whether she's done anything else.
(Sorry, this is a bit of a lame-arse review, because it is late & I have been onna train for over 7 hrs.)
