Charlie Lovett knows how to find literary topics that I can't resist. From book collecting in The Bookman's Tale to Jane Austen in First Impressions to the Holy Grail in The Lost Book of the Grail (my favorite), this man has put a stranglehold on my imagination and my attention. In Escaping Dreamland, he's done it again.
Probably the best thing Lovett has done is to bring back many wonderful memories of the books I loved as a child. A favorite scene in the book is the one in which Parrish visits an elderly collector who tells him about saving his ten-cent allowance for five weeks so that his father would take him to Brentano's Bookstore on Fifth Avenue so he could buy the latest book in his favorite series. I learned so much fascinating history about children's serial fiction in Escaping Dreamland that I'm tempted to make time to read some again. Lovett weaves one memorable scene after another into his story: the San Francisco earthquake, John Singer Sargent painting a portrait, the General Slocum disaster, visiting Dreamland on Coney Island... He brings Gilded Age America (and in particular, New York City) to life, and if you're the type of reader who is concerned about the appearance of historical characters in a work of fiction, read Lovett's notes at the end of the book.
All the characters in the book except Parrish's girlfriend Rebecca have demons to fight. Only Robert's demon is left unspoken until the end, but it's rather easy to deduce. If there's one thing I don't particularly like about Escaping Dreamland, it is the "magic box" at the end, but at least the entirety of the lives of the three characters from the earlier timeline is not served up to Parrish on a silver platter. Readers know more than he does, and I like that.
I'm looking forward to Lovett's next book. It's not often that you find an author who knows how to get a grip on both your heart and your mind, and Charlie Lovett is one of those writers for me. If you're a fan, you've got a treat in store. If you've never heard of him before, I highly recommend this man's books. He knows how to tell a tale.
(Review copy courtesy of the publisher and Net Galley.)
Probably the best thing Lovett has done is to bring back many wonderful memories of the books I loved as a child. A favorite scene in the book is the one in which Parrish visits an elderly collector who tells him about saving his ten-cent allowance for five weeks so that his father would take him to Brentano's Bookstore on Fifth Avenue so he could buy the latest book in his favorite series. I learned so much fascinating history about children's serial fiction in Escaping Dreamland that I'm tempted to make time to read some again. Lovett weaves one memorable scene after another into his story: the San Francisco earthquake, John Singer Sargent painting a portrait, the General Slocum disaster, visiting Dreamland on Coney Island... He brings Gilded Age America (and in particular, New York City) to life, and if you're the type of reader who is concerned about the appearance of historical characters in a work of fiction, read Lovett's notes at the end of the book.
All the characters in the book except Parrish's girlfriend Rebecca have demons to fight. Only Robert's demon is left unspoken until the end, but it's rather easy to deduce. If there's one thing I don't particularly like about Escaping Dreamland, it is the "magic box" at the end, but at least the entirety of the lives of the three characters from the earlier timeline is not served up to Parrish on a silver platter. Readers know more than he does, and I like that.
I'm looking forward to Lovett's next book. It's not often that you find an author who knows how to get a grip on both your heart and your mind, and Charlie Lovett is one of those writers for me. If you're a fan, you've got a treat in store. If you've never heard of him before, I highly recommend this man's books. He knows how to tell a tale.
(Review copy courtesy of the publisher and Net Galley.)
