Book Review - The Fates Will Find Their Way by Hannah Pittard

Hannah Pittard's first novel, The Fates Will Find Their Way, is a fascinating concept novel.  Pittard is an accomplished short story writer.  In this novel, she creates a well-paced narrative and effectively uses interesting storytelling techniques.

On Halloween night in a mid-Atlantic state, sixteen-year-old Nora Lindell disappears.  This is how the novel assertively opens: "Some things were certain; they were undeniable, inarguable.  Nora Lindell was gone, for one thing.  There was no doubt about it."

The story then develops into a Choose-Your-Own-Adventure, spinning out possible narratives of what might have happened to Nora.  (She probably did this, she might have done that.)  The possibilities of what might have happened to Nora are told and then retold, carrying the novel forward.  While the grammatical form is a little unfamiliar in a novel, Pittard manages it very well.  In parallel, Pittard tells the story of what actually did happen to Nora's sister and father and the community in which they all lived. 

What makes the novel even more interesting is that it is written in the first person plural.  The narrator is a group of boys who were Nora's classmates.  The "we" are intrigued by Nora's teenage sexuality and, for the rest of their lives, the boys wander aimlessly through marriages, divorces, crimes and death still in the clutches of Nora and what might have been.  Pittard nailed the group voice.  If the first person plural is of interest to you, you should also read  Joshua Ferris' hysterical (and yet sad) examination of office life in Then We Came to the End.

Recommendation: The mix of the first person plural voice and the choose-your-own-adventure approach to the novel makes it a refreshing and inventive book.  Pittard expertly develops the story like a carefully crafted kaleidoscope.

Other reviews: Book Lady's Blog, Devourer of Books, Shelf Love and Book Sake.

Interview with Pittard here.

The publisher's discussion of the book:

A Red Herring Without Mustard: A Flavia de Luce Novel by Alan Bradley

A Red Herring Without Mustard, by Alan Bradley, is the third installment of Bradley's award winning Flavia de Luce series.   In 2007, Bradley won the Debut Dagger Award for the first novel in the series, The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie, and thereafter won more than a dozen awards for the book.  The second installment was The Weed That Strings the Hangman's Bag.

The series is set in 1950 in an ancient manor house on the English countryside.  The stories are told by an eleven year old narrator, Flavia de Luce, a precocious, chatty child, who is an accomplished chemist and a fantastic story teller.  Flavia lives with her emotionally vacant father, her two teenage sisters (Feely and Daffy), the cook, Mrs. Mullet, Dogger, a war veteran/gardener/handyman, and Gladys, her bicycle.  Flavia also lives with the memory of her ancestors, particularly her deceased mother.  The cast is further supported by the local librarian, the inspector, the vicar and others.

In A Red Herring Without Mustard, a gypsy fortune-teller is savagely attacked, a local thief is murdered, a baby is missing and there is a fishy smell in the air.  Flavia sets out to solve it all, matching her skills against the local constabulary.

What makes this series enjoyable is Flavia.  Bradley, a 70 year old Sherlock Holmes scholar (in his book Ms. Holmes of Baker Street, he argued that Sherlock Holmes was really a woman), creates a fun and intelligent character. She is a mix of the sharp brilliance of Sherlock Holmes, the tenacity of Colombo and the cuteness of Punky Brewster.

Some have categorized this series as one for young adults.  The violence aside, Harry Potter was supposed to be for young adults too and millions of adults read and enjoyed him.

Recommendation: The Flavia series is fun and entertaining and will be enjoyed by Agatha Christie lovers. Of the three books, Sweetness is the best. It is hard to beat a great first encounter with such a memorable character.


The book trailer for Sweetness:

An interview with Bradley:

Lord of Misrule by Jaimy Gordon

Lord of Misrule, by Jaimy Gordon, was the dark horse winner of the 2010 National Book Award for fiction in December 2010.  It had a very small print run (2,000), and its author was relatively unknown.  Her life has changed.

No wonder.  Lord of Misrule is a gem.  It follows five characters through one year and four races at a rundown West Virginia racetrack.  The main characters are memorable.  Tommy Hansel is the "young fool", who has a scheme to run unknown horses quickly at long odds, make his money and get out.  Tommy's advance team and girlfriend, Maddie Koderer is the "frizzy haired girl" who is swept up by Tommy and, unbeknown to Maddie, is protected by her gangster uncle, Two-Tie.  Deucey Gifford is the old lady gypsy.  Finally, there is my favorite, Medicine Ed, the old horse groom. 

Gordon paints a beautiful portrait of the grittiness of a low stakes racetrack.  Her characters are stuck in a soulless track, looking for escape.  The first few sentences vividly describe what is to come:

"Inside the back gate of Indian Mound Downs, a hot-walking machine creaked round and round. In the judgment of Medicine Ed, walking a horse himself on the shedrow of Barn Z, the going-nowhere contraption must be the lost soul of this cheap racetrack where he been ended up at. It was stuck there in the gate, so you couldn't get out."

The writing is convincing and graphic.  Gordon carefully constructs each sentence.  This is a book to be read slowly and absorbed, not flipped through.  Two minor complaints about the novel : the shifts in perspective are a bit distracting and hard to follow and as someone who knows nothing about horse racing, I felt like I missed a few things.

The grittiness of the book reminded me of The Natural and the beauty and intensity of the writing brought to mind Tinkers by Paul Harding (the surprise 2010 Pulitzer Prize winner for fiction).

Recommendation:  It was great to see a small press outsider win one of the most prestigious literary awards in the United States.  Lord of Misrule is a beautifully written book that you should move up to the top of your literary reads.

Other reviews:
The Quivering Pen and Shelf Love.

2011 Tournament of Books

The Morning News published its annual bracket for the Tournament of Books -- March Madness for readers.  The contenders are :

•The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake, by Aimee Bender

•Nox, by Anne Carson
•Bad Marie, by Marcy Dermansky
•Room, by Emma Donoghue
•A Visit From the Goon Squad, by Jennifer Egan
•Freedom, by Jonathan Franzen
•Lord of Misrule, by Jaimy Gordon
•Bloodroot, by Amy Greene
•Next, by James Hynes
•The Finkler Question, by Howard Jacobson
•Skippy Dies, by Paul Murray
•Model Home, by Eric Puchner
•So Much for That, by Lionel Shriver
•Super Sad True Love Story, by Gary Shteyngart
•Kapitoil, by Teddy Wayne

•Savages, by Don Winslow

My call is that Goon Squad takes on Room in the semifinals (Room has to beat Freedom, not an easy feat) and Lord of Misrule takes Super Sad True Love Story in the other semifinal match up.  Goon Squad wins it all.

Major Pettigrew's Last Stand by Helen Simonson

Major Pettigrew's Last Stand is a delightful first novel by Helen Simonson. Major Ernest Pettigrew is the quintessential Englishman, stodgy, prudent, understated and, above all, proper. The death of his brother sparks an unexpected friendship with Mrs. Jasmina Ali, a Pakistani shopkeeper in the Major's English countryside village. Their relationship grows from their shared love of literature and the loss of each of their spouses.  The Major, a respected and deeply rooted member of village life, must deal with the small-mindedness of the villagers.  Ms. Ali struggles with the religious shackles of her family and the villagers' treatment of her as an outsider. The Major also must confront his relationship with his superficial and materialistic son, the London banker, who has left village life and the values of his father.


The novel is loaded with conflicts: intergenerational, cultural, religious, societal and modernization. Simonson beautifully sets the story in the quiet village and paints a convincing portrait of life in the village without becoming farcical or contrived.

What I love about the Major is his strugle.  He is firmly grounded in "old fashion" values ("In my day, respect was something to strive for. Something to be given, not taken."), yet he is impulsive and irreverent. Simonson has fun showing us how he reconciles his dualing sides. 

The major themes of the novel are not new – does love conquer all and can people get beyond their own cultural shackles? What’s fun is the setting and how the characters develop in this timeless novel. It is an optimistic and worthwhile read.

Recommendation: This is a great book club book and an otherwise fun, easy read. The themes and issues are universal and relevant. The story is accessible and worth the read.

Below, the author discusses her book.

On a separate note, I want to welcome the blog's many new readers.  I'm very excited to have the opportunity to share my thoughts with you and would love to hear any feedback.  Thank you for coming on this adventure with me.