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The Magician's Assistant
Jan. 16th, 2024 07:16 pmThe Magician's Assistant is the second book I've read by Ann Patchett and I will definitely be looking for more.
The titular character is Sabine, a 41-year-old woman who has dedicated her life to the magician, Parsifal, a gay man who is unable to return her love in the way she would like. She has spent 22 years as his assistant and dearest friend, but now he is dead and she discovers he has a family in Nebraska she never knew about. Sabine goes to Nebraska to spend time with Parsifal's mother, two sisters and two nephews - and the book charts her continuing discoveries about Parsifal's life, as well as what she learns about his family and herself.
It's a reasonably quiet book, with occasional moments of great tension. Mostly, it's a beautiful portrayal of a range of fascinating, layered and incredibly realistic characters, who come together in interesting ways on the snowy plains of Nebraska.
The book drew me in and I absolutely lived it all with Sabine. I saw all the places and people so clearly, and some of the observations about the characters are heart-wrenching in their stark truth and painful beauty.
I worked out where the story was going about 70 pages from the end - and then couldn't quite understand one of the things that happened right at the finish. But overall, I loved this book.
The titular character is Sabine, a 41-year-old woman who has dedicated her life to the magician, Parsifal, a gay man who is unable to return her love in the way she would like. She has spent 22 years as his assistant and dearest friend, but now he is dead and she discovers he has a family in Nebraska she never knew about. Sabine goes to Nebraska to spend time with Parsifal's mother, two sisters and two nephews - and the book charts her continuing discoveries about Parsifal's life, as well as what she learns about his family and herself.
It's a reasonably quiet book, with occasional moments of great tension. Mostly, it's a beautiful portrayal of a range of fascinating, layered and incredibly realistic characters, who come together in interesting ways on the snowy plains of Nebraska.
The book drew me in and I absolutely lived it all with Sabine. I saw all the places and people so clearly, and some of the observations about the characters are heart-wrenching in their stark truth and painful beauty.
I worked out where the story was going about 70 pages from the end - and then couldn't quite understand one of the things that happened right at the finish. But overall, I loved this book.
