These four titles, while rooted in real history, places and folklore, take their historical foundations and build stories that feel both fantastical and authentic.
While nothing magic happens in Alexander Chee’s “The Queen of the Night,” the plot is sweeping and operatic, befitting its mysterious diva protagonist. It’s full of scenes and imagery that will stick in your mind years after you’ve read it – from a burial in the frozen Canadian earth to a bittersweet romantic assignation in a Paris garden against the backdrop of a burning city.
Similarly, “The Warlow Experiment” is based on a real advertisement that the author, Alix Nathan, came across in an 18th century newspaper, and the story plays out the scenario according to the time and place. But the nature of the experiment is so extreme, its success dependent on the subject and the experimenter not being flawed human beings, that the outcome inevitably goes to dark and subtly surreal places.
Maisy Card’s book “These Ghosts Are Family” is a series of interlinked stories that spans generations of one family through time and place, from the cane fields of Jamaica, to the docks of England, to an apartment building in Harlem. It starts with what might be a sordid but realistic history: a man takes the identity of a coworker and flees his old life and family for another country. It ends with an account of three abandoned girls who may or may not have transcended life and become something otherworldly. In between the links and severances of relationships lay bare the pain and love in human connection.
“Deathless,” the most fantastical of these selections, reimagines the figure of Koschei the Deathless, a villain of Russian folk tradition. Cathrynne M. Valente sets her story in the turmoil of Russian Revolution in Leningrad, mixing the bureaucracy of Communist living with the world of committees of house brownies, Tsars of Night and deaths hidden in eggs. This complicated love story between a girl and a deathless supernatural being, about a girl surviving a harsh world and finding her own magic, is so much more than the usual tragic fated love story of fairy tales.
Get lost in one of these worlds today!
You can sign up for a free library card here. If you are new to our eResources, check out these tutorial videos on how to get started.
Looking for a good book, album, movie or TV show? We’re happy to recommend them to you! Use this Personalized Recommendations form to send us some information about what you like and we’ll curate a list just for you.
If you have any additional questions, you can contact a librarian through Facebook, Instagram or Twitter. You can also call us at 412-622-3114 or email us at info@carnegielibrary.org.
