When the unlikelily named Zachary Ezra Rawlings finds an uncatalogued book in the university library containing a short story that tells of an incident in his childhood in perfect detail, he goes on a quest to discover the origin of the book.
This leads him to find the mysterious Mirabel and handsome Dorian, and he's led through a painted door into a strange underground world which may be the source of human storytelling.
This world is facing a threat and they embark on a perilous journey to find the end of their story.
I adored this book from the first chapter. This is the first book i years where I deliberately slowed my reading pace near the end so I could stay in the writer's world that bit longer.
The story alternates between chapters from books within the book with the ongoing narrative. As the book moves on, all the storylines start weaving together.
The prose is just gorgeous throughout. The overlapping storylines and different layers of storytelling, could have felt contrived or confusing but they never did. This is a book that will reward multiple reads. There are so many subtle little touches that I spotted first time around and others that people at the book group highlighted. I'm sure there are dozens more to spot on a second time around.
There was a sly humour running through the story, along with some genuine shock moments. One particular incident in the final act of the story left me feeling completely shell shocked. This was one of the least predictable novels I've read in recent years.
This is best book I've read this year so far and I've already bought myself a rather lovely copy of The Night Circus online. I recommend this unreservedly.
No comments:
Post a Comment