A review by ssindc
The Facts of Life by Graham Joyce
4.0
I almost feel badly categorizing this as "fantasy," because it is far and away the lightest (or most normal, mainstream, or conventional) of the Graham Joyce books I've read. The fantastical elements are mere color or flavor, whereas the overall work is an appealing, well-crafted, moving, or even touching chronicle of a large, complicated family surviving and evolving during a difficult time (World War II and the aftermath, in Coventry, England).
What's funny is that I'd be less inclined to recommend this book to my fantasy-reading friends who've enjoyed Joyce's other works. I'd be more inclined to recommend this to some of my literary fiction readers, for example the folks who are partial to Penelope Lively (still one of my all time favorites) or even Carol Shields - indeed, this book felt more like The Stone Diaries to me than, say, something by Neil Gaiman... Granted, Joyce can be a tad graphic at times, and he doesn't shy away from the mechanics of sex, but this story is really about families and relationships and the roles and challenges that face the matriarch, the difficulties of the prodigal daughter, the coming of age of a young boy, etc... All in all, a pleasant surprise...
What's funny is that I'd be less inclined to recommend this book to my fantasy-reading friends who've enjoyed Joyce's other works. I'd be more inclined to recommend this to some of my literary fiction readers, for example the folks who are partial to Penelope Lively (still one of my all time favorites) or even Carol Shields - indeed, this book felt more like The Stone Diaries to me than, say, something by Neil Gaiman... Granted, Joyce can be a tad graphic at times, and he doesn't shy away from the mechanics of sex, but this story is really about families and relationships and the roles and challenges that face the matriarch, the difficulties of the prodigal daughter, the coming of age of a young boy, etc... All in all, a pleasant surprise...