Beautiful and important.
When Death tells a story, you pay attention.
Liesel Meminger is a young girl growing up outside of Munich in Nazi Germany, and Death tells her story as “an attempt—a flying jump of an attempt—to prove to me that you, and your human existence, are worth it.” When her foster father helps her learn to read and she discovers the power of words, Liesel begins stealing books from Nazi book burnings and the mayor’s wife’s library. As she becomes a better reader, she becomes a writer, writing a book about her life in such a miserable time. Liesel’s experiences move Death to say, “I am haunted by humans.” How could the human race be “so ugly and so glorious” at the same time? This big, expansive novel is a leisurely working out of fate, of seemingly chance encounters and events that ultimately touch, like dominoes as they collide. The writing is elegant, philosophical and moving. Even at its length, it’s a work to read slowly and savor.
Beautiful and important. (Fiction. 12+)Pub Date: March 14, 2006
ISBN: 0-375-83100-2
Page Count: 512
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2006
A lush and hypnotic modern fairy tale.
Ten years ago, enigmatic film star Mireille Foix disappeared from Viloxin, her Mediterranean island home, leaving her pharma tycoon husband and two young daughters bereft.
Eighteen-year-old Manon and 17-year-old Thaïs have lived with their aunt in New York City ever since, and their father’s death the previous summer still stings. Tai is puckish and effervescent, with “beautiful gemstones of stories that she’s sharpened to points” and musical laughter that hides deep insecurity. Noni, on the other hand, is a bookish and unabashedly melancholy young woman. When they get an invitation to return to Viloxin, the “Eden” of their childhood, as guests of honor at a retrospective of their mother’s work, they can’t pass it up. Soon after their arrival, Tai discovers White Fox, a legendary unfinished script penned by her mother. The screenplay, which is nestled in between Tai’s and Manon’s narratives as well as that of Boy, a darkly mysterious third narrator, may hold the key to Mireille’s fate. Desperate for the truth, Tai and Noni are enticed into an eerie and darkly seductive puzzle box of enigmatic clues, revelations, and danger. Faring, an imaginative, tactile, and immensely quotable wordsmith, explores the complexities of sisterhood and grief with a deft hand, and her unusual island setting, with its futuristic touches, draws readers in with a sensuous warmth that belies the sharp teeth beneath its surface. Most main characters seem to be White.
A lush and hypnotic modern fairy tale. (Mystery. 14-18)Pub Date: Sept. 22, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-250-30452-0
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Imprint
Review Posted Online: July 7, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
PERSPECTIVES
A powerful exploration of human connection during nightmarish times.
In an alternate Victorian era, unlikely allies confront monsters and murders.
It’s 1888, and misogynist Jack is on the prowl in Whitechapel, London, butchering women and consuming their organs, which he hopes will “restore him to health and life.” After one murder, he’s approached by a Gorgon, a snake-haired monster from Greek mythology with a gaze that turns people to stone. But Jack isn’t affected by her petrifying powers; he runs away and continues his murder spree. Fleeing the police, Jack boards a ship heading across the Atlantic. In New York City, Pearl Davenport and Tabitha Woodward are members of the Salvation Army, spreading God’s word. They’re roommates who have a contentious relationship—rigidly pious Pearl clashes with more easygoing Tabitha. Wanting to help Cora, a distressed girl they briefly cross paths with, Pearl and Tabitha ask investigative reporter Freyda to help locate her. Pearl falls ill while Tabitha scours the city, seeking answers and receiving assistance from surprising sources, including handsome bartender Mike and Miss Stella, a secretive older woman. All the while, an evil lurking in the city is growing closer. Berry’s exploration of Jack the Ripper’s motivations is intriguing. But the evolving relationships among the largely white-presenting characters—particularly the one between Pearl and Tabitha as they confront horrors that are softened by the compassion they encounter—offer the real appeal, accentuating the best and worst of human nature.
A powerful exploration of human connection during nightmarish times. (historical notes, bibliography) (Historical paranormal. 12-18)Pub Date: Sept. 16, 2025
ISBN: 9781534470811
Page Count: 448
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: July 3, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2025
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