Reading Fayne gave me a similar feeling to reading Jane Eyre. It was like reading a favourite book for the first time and discovering a new world. (And I also have to say that it was a delight looking for the Jane Eyre Easter Eggs in this book. The author has confirmed that the main character's name, Charlotte Bell, is a direct nod to the author of JE - if you know, you know! I won't say any more here as that may move into spoiler territory, but the Jane Eyre references made the unfolding of Fayne even more delightful to me.)
It has been a couple of years since I posted a book review on here, and even more years since I kept a dedicated book blog, but I had to write a review of this book. It was one of those books where, while I was reading it, the world of the book was more real to me than the world around me. I finished it 24 hours ago, and I am suffering from a severe book hangover at this point - I have two stacks of books in front of me to read, and I can't bear to pick any of them up for now.
My book reviewing skills feel rusty, but let me try to overview the story using journalistic prompts.
Who: The Honourable Charlotte Bell and her family. It isn't a spoiler (since I have heard the author, Ann-Marie MacDonald share this information in interviews I've heard and at a book talk I attended) to say that Charlotte is born with intersex characteristics that shape the story of her life.
When: 1870s-1880s - a good Victorian Gothic era to be set in!
Where: Fayne, an estate in the moors on the southern border of Scotland and/or the northern border of England, and Edinburgh. With brief sojourns in Italy and Boston.
What: Family dynamics, Victorian medicine (espcially gynaecology), bird watching, geopolitical land disputes, feminism, queerness, fashion, magyk, bogs and moors.
Why: Well, that is the whole point of the story, learning the motivations of each of the characters.
And as for the How, I think that was what I loved the most about this book. The structure of the book moves backwards and forwards through time, between Charlotte in the present day (1888) and the early married life of her parents, Mae and Henry, in the early 1870s. Information is gradually revealed to the reader (as it is gradually revealed to Charlotte) so that eventually the whole story of what happened felt like it landed in my lap fully formed. It felt a bit slow to get going (though the vivid writing, descriptions of the moors, and Charlotte herself kept me engaged in the story), but momentum kept building and the more of it I read, the harder it was for me to put down.
Ann-Marie MacDonald is one of my auto-buy authors. I was excited when I heard last fall that she had a new book out, and even more excited when I got to attend a reading at the Saint John Public Library and get my copy autographed. I was saving it for after Christmas when I knew I would have more time to dive into it, and it didn't disappoint.
So, in a nutshell, Fayne is a queer, late-Victorian, Jane-Eyre-esque, gothic(ish) novel written by a master in her craft. I can't recommend this book highly enough. Now go out and read it, so that we can discuss it together!
Now I need to read :)
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