The Book of Speculation by Erika Swyler
My rating: 5/5 cats
this book is for all you fans of The Night Circus or Geek Love. BUT – if you hated The Night Circus, don’t run off just yet, because this is both better-written and much darker. BUT – those of you who are turned off by me saying “much darker” should know it’s not too dark. there, i think i’ve sufficiently confused everyone.
(oh, i just noticed katherine dunn blurbed this. that’s pretty perfect.)
this is a book for people who like books about books, sideshows, family sagas with a little magic in ’em, and strong supportive boys covered in tentacle tattoos.
there’s a magical element to the story, but it doesn’t overshadow what is at its heart a melancholy and beautiful story of a family’s sufferings across generations.
half of the book is the story of simon watson, a sweet and hapless librarian who is going through the roughest of rough patches. he loses his job, the family home, where he has lived alone for years in a nostalgic haze, is sliding ever-closer to the edge of a cliff overlooking the long island sound, he has just clumsily initiated a more intimate relationship with a woman he has known since childhood, his whirlwind of a sister enola has breezed back into town – scrawny, emotional, and trailing a heavily tattooed fella, and he has received a very curious book in the mail which is about to change his life.
the book is a log from a traveling carnival dating back to the 1700’s, and simon discovers that it contains information about his ancestors, which calls his attention to a freaky coincidence: generations of circus mermaids* related along the female line all died by drowning on july 24th. which is the date his mother, a former circus mermaid, also drowned when he was a child.
both simon and enola were taught the breath-holding techniques of the mermaid by their mother, but while enola has followed her mother’s path into a carnival career, she deals strictly in tarot. however, july 24th is only six weeks away, and patterns are starting to emerge in the book that are manifesting around him, causing simon to worry very seriously for enola.
alternating with simon’s narrative is the fleshed-out story from the log, which documents the travels of peabody’s; the traveling carnival where simon and enola’s ancestors, amos and evangeline, meet and initiate the cycle that will affect subsequent generations.
it’s rare for me, in split-narrative books, to be equally invested in both stories. usually there is one i am more drawn to, while the other becomes something i read in order to get back to the “real” story. but this time, i was just as engrossed in the amos/evangeline story as the simon one. and i took such delight in the details that crossed over from one story to the other; the lockpicking, the tarot cards, the horseshoe crabs, etc.
which, never have horseshoe crabs been so … sinister.
oh, and did i mention this was illustrated? because it is. not heavily, which would be distracting, but appropriately.
and squeeee – this ARC came with a cool little mini-book about the making of the hand-bound, gilded manuscripts on tea-stained paper that were sent to book publishers in September 2013. which is the way to go when trying to get a book deal. and i want one of THOSE, please:
but for those of you who do not have an ARC, or are reading this in the future when the book is already out, (hi!! what is the future like?? are there any new animals??) don’t be jealous!! just click this link!
it’s a very strong debut, and honestly – knowing that this woman hand-bound ornate manuscripts to circulate to publishers makes me very willing to support her in all her endeavors, because that’s the kind of craftiness (in both meanings) i can enthusiastically applaud. plus, the book is really good, so there’s that.
i am looking forward to reading other reviews of this, so read it!
* which are not mermaids like this:
which it what i was thinking of (minus the bull) when i read the back of this book and thought “hmmmm – sounds silly”
but are “mermaids” in the sense that they can hold their breath for a really long time and swim around sexily underwater in clingy white dresses for the delight of leering menfolk.
which is not silly, just kind of sad. like so many elements of the carnival.
and as a bonus, here is a really dark and blurry picture of me with the author, who is either delighted or terrified by my drunken enthusiasm about her book:
