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A review by loriluo
The Spectacular by Fiona Davis
3.0
In 1956, Marion Brooks has been fired from her job as a dance teacher and given an ultimatum by her father Simon, an esteemed executive at the Met Power firm in NYC - get married to her long-time childhood friend Nathaniel and become a housewife, or leave his home. Marion's mother passed decades ago when she was a child and her sister Judy, the picture of obedience and stability, can offer little help to Marion as she struggles with what to do next. On a whim, Marion auditions for the Rockettes, the famed dancing troupe that performs regularly at the Radio City Music Hall and just makes the cut off. Thanks to her newfound friend and fellow Rockette Bunny, she's able to find a place to stay and a job that will allow her to support herself.
In the midst of this, however, is the ongoing threat of the Big Apple Bomber - an individual that has left and detonated a number of pipe bombs in many of NYC's most prominent places. For Marion, his latest actions hit too close to home and with little support from the police department, she pulls in the help of Peter Griggs, a psychiatric resident at Creedmore Psychiatric Institute, to try and find him before it's too late.
"The Spectacular" has an intruging plotline, blending elements of historical fiction and mystery surprisingly well. As a NYC-er, I loved the tribute to the city's landmarks and institutions and in her afterword, author Fiona Davis goes into more detail the actual events and individuals she modeled her characters and stories off of. I struggled to get through this novel, however, for a few reasons. The writing style felt clipped and limited, despite being told from a third person perspective for the majority of the novel, and Marion's character didn't feel well-developed. There isn't much growth from her and many of her actions and words felt anachronistically feminist for the time period and her situation. Pacing-wise, the beginning third of the novel felt incredibly slow as well and the last third had so much packed into it that it novel felt unbalanced.
As a whole this was an enjoyable read, but wasn't one of the stronger novels I've read this year.
Thank you Dutton Publishing for the advance copy of this novel!
In the midst of this, however, is the ongoing threat of the Big Apple Bomber - an individual that has left and detonated a number of pipe bombs in many of NYC's most prominent places. For Marion, his latest actions hit too close to home and with little support from the police department, she pulls in the help of Peter Griggs, a psychiatric resident at Creedmore Psychiatric Institute, to try and find him before it's too late.
"The Spectacular" has an intruging plotline, blending elements of historical fiction and mystery surprisingly well. As a NYC-er, I loved the tribute to the city's landmarks and institutions and in her afterword, author Fiona Davis goes into more detail the actual events and individuals she modeled her characters and stories off of. I struggled to get through this novel, however, for a few reasons. The writing style felt clipped and limited, despite being told from a third person perspective for the majority of the novel, and Marion's character didn't feel well-developed. There isn't much growth from her and many of her actions and words felt anachronistically feminist for the time period and her situation. Pacing-wise, the beginning third of the novel felt incredibly slow as well and the last third had so much packed into it that it novel felt unbalanced.
As a whole this was an enjoyable read, but wasn't one of the stronger novels I've read this year.
Thank you Dutton Publishing for the advance copy of this novel!