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A review by bookishwendy
The Unlikely Escape of Uriah Heep by H.G. Parry
5.0
Charley is a book summoner--a rare reader with the power to read characters out of their books, though it's much more difficult to put them back, as it turns out. Throughout history, even regular readers might form a magical connection with a certain character, bringing them to life our world, often without knowing it. Maui, Scheherezade, Heathcliffe, Matilda, the White Witch (who rides a motorcycle) all make appearances. Mr. Darcy is a reader favorite, understandably--there are five known versions, all a bit different according to the interpretation and era in which the reader lived!) But being fictional doesn't make them benign. When Charley accidentally summons the knife-wielding Dickensian villain Uriah Heep, he has to call his older brother Rob for backup. Uriah has a message for them: there's another summoner in the world, reading characters to life for a dark purpose...
There's some wonderful metafictional romping in this book, and I enjoyed how literary analysis is used to inform the story. I especially loved the central relationship between Charley and Rob. Rob provides the narrative voice for much of the book, which is especially fun because as a lawyer he's an outsider in the academic and literati circles of his Oxford-grad little brother. Their relationship is quite a complex one, rooted in childhood jealousies and insecurities, and while they clearly care deeply for one another, they clearly drive each other up the wall. No matter how crazy the plot might get, their relationship always remains grounded and real. My favorite part might be when Charley and his brother stumble across a magical Victorian street populated by classic characters in their hometown of Wellington, New Zealand. They each have reactions that perfectly match their dispositions, and that section had me laughing. If you're looking for a fun read with a magical, classic lit touch, might I suggest this one?
Thanks to Netgalley and RedHook Books for providing an advance reader copy of this book.
There's some wonderful metafictional romping in this book, and I enjoyed how literary analysis is used to inform the story. I especially loved the central relationship between Charley and Rob. Rob provides the narrative voice for much of the book, which is especially fun because as a lawyer he's an outsider in the academic and literati circles of his Oxford-grad little brother. Their relationship is quite a complex one, rooted in childhood jealousies and insecurities, and while they clearly care deeply for one another, they clearly drive each other up the wall. No matter how crazy the plot might get, their relationship always remains grounded and real. My favorite part might be when Charley and his brother stumble across a magical Victorian street populated by classic characters in their hometown of Wellington, New Zealand. They each have reactions that perfectly match their dispositions, and that section had me laughing. If you're looking for a fun read with a magical, classic lit touch, might I suggest this one?
Thanks to Netgalley and RedHook Books for providing an advance reader copy of this book.