A review by libraryofcalliope
Wise Children by Angela Carter

2.0

This story is very performatively written, which is appropriate given the subject matter. It feels more like reading a monologue than a story. The Chance twins are the illegitimate daughters of the king of British Theatre. Their lives and their legitimate siblings lives are two sides of the same performing coin but while one side has Shakespeare and high art, the other has novelty and sensationalism. The subtleties of the novel are incredibly interesting but I just couldn’t get into it. The way it was written felt too unnatural to me. It would be excellent performed. One of the Chance sisters narrates the stories of her sister and her family in an almost pantomime voice, all booming and wisecracking which is absolutely an appropriate choice, it just meant I struggled to get into it. It’s also more like exposition the whole way through rather than a story in the traditional sense. It was an interesting experiment in writing style, just not for me.