Stephanie Jane recenzis The Uses Of Illicit Art de Wendy Palmer
Brilliant storytelling!
5 steloj
I spotted Australian author Wendy Palmer's mention of her historical fantasy novel, The Uses Of Illicit Art, on Mastodon and was intrigued by its concept. I think that the Victorian era does make a wonderful setting for alternative history stories, such as this magickal fantasy tale which I thoroughly enjoyed. I appreciated that Wendy Palmer set the majority of the story away from London so we had the contrast of that small town location against that of the capital city.
The extended Knight family and their squabbles were brilliantly entertaining, often making me giggle aloud at moments such as where Alex is delayed at a time of emergency by needing to explain his bed-breaking antics to an irate Mother Knight! The humour in The Uses Of Illicit Art chimed strongly with my own and I feel this novel would appeal to readers who also enjoyed stories such as Mark Gatiss' …
I spotted Australian author Wendy Palmer's mention of her historical fantasy novel, The Uses Of Illicit Art, on Mastodon and was intrigued by its concept. I think that the Victorian era does make a wonderful setting for alternative history stories, such as this magickal fantasy tale which I thoroughly enjoyed. I appreciated that Wendy Palmer set the majority of the story away from London so we had the contrast of that small town location against that of the capital city.
The extended Knight family and their squabbles were brilliantly entertaining, often making me giggle aloud at moments such as where Alex is delayed at a time of emergency by needing to explain his bed-breaking antics to an irate Mother Knight! The humour in The Uses Of Illicit Art chimed strongly with my own and I feel this novel would appeal to readers who also enjoyed stories such as Mark Gatiss' Lucifer Box trilogy. There is a certain bawdiness at times, and also beautifully deft plotting; several 'adult' scenes but also a plausible, poignant relationship beginning to build between traumatised Kit and his would-be lover / captor, Alex.
This relationship is central to the novel and I was so impressed with how deeply Palmer portrayed these two men. Their mutual attraction, yet also lack of trust in each other makes for a fascinating dynamic, while the aftermath of Kit's abusive childhood means we see him going to some extremely dark places in his mind (in scenes which could be triggering in some readers). Coming to terms with the past and forging one's own identity is an important theme with all four main characters, Kit and Alex of course, as well as Kit's best friend, Edith, and Alex's sister, Lulu, each making their own journeys, supporting and hindering each other as they go.
I absolutely loved reading The Uses Of Illicit Art and am thrilled to have discovered Wendy Palmer as an author, especially as I believe a sequel to this novel is on its way!