A review by lydiahephzibah
Margarettown by Gabrielle Zevin
4.0
What a strange little book. Thirteen years ago, I read my first Gabrielle Zevin book (Elsewhere) and fell head over heels in love with it. I can't remember how many times I read that book, but it was a lot. When I remembered it the other day, I bought it again and a couple more by Zevin.
Margarettown is a hard book to describe. Parts are told by the narrator, N. Some are third person, centred on his wife, Maggie. A few short chapters are narrated by his unborn twins. The last section of the book is third person again, but this time centred on his daughter, Jane. It's something of a jumble of a book, weaving realism and strangeness together so closely that it's hard to tell what happened and what didn't.
Something tells me John Green must have read this book before he wrote Paper Towns.
Was Margaret really five people? I have no idea. Did N invent that as a coping mechanism? I have no idea. But I kind of loved that. It was an odd book, but a great one, and a crazy quick read despite being 300 pages. I can't wait to read more by Zevin (two of her others are featured in this picture; another is lost somewhere in my room). This book was magical. A little break from reality, without feeling like it was unrealistic. I loved it.
Margarettown is a hard book to describe. Parts are told by the narrator, N. Some are third person, centred on his wife, Maggie. A few short chapters are narrated by his unborn twins. The last section of the book is third person again, but this time centred on his daughter, Jane. It's something of a jumble of a book, weaving realism and strangeness together so closely that it's hard to tell what happened and what didn't.
Something tells me John Green must have read this book before he wrote Paper Towns.
Was Margaret really five people? I have no idea. Did N invent that as a coping mechanism? I have no idea. But I kind of loved that. It was an odd book, but a great one, and a crazy quick read despite being 300 pages. I can't wait to read more by Zevin (two of her others are featured in this picture; another is lost somewhere in my room). This book was magical. A little break from reality, without feeling like it was unrealistic. I loved it.