Starred review from May 20, 2002
Martin Sloane, the protagonist of Redhill's elegant debut, is an Irish-born Canadian who makes dioramas from "found objects." Among these chanced-upon entities is the book's narrator herself, Jolene Iolas, a Bard undergrad who happens upon Martin's work and falls in love with the artist. Their affair lasts several years, until one day Martin purposefully and inexplicably vanishes. Achingly sweet in its execution, the novel explores what it means to love, as we follow a dual narrative: Jolene's attempt to recover after Martin disappears, and Martin's own childhood memories of Ireland, as retold by Jolene. "It's not really safe to love other people, is it?" asks Jolene's former college roommate Molly, in Ireland years later to help Jolene track Martin down. Redhill's book reminds us that love can be half imaginary. Even Jolene's recollections of Martin's childhood must pass through the lens of Martin's inventiveness: one story that Martin tells Jolene and Molly is proven a lovely fabrication. Then, too, our sense of love is shaped by our own desire. In a surprise ending, Jolene visits someone who asks for information about Martin, to which Jolene responds: "Whatever I tell you about him will just end up being about myself." A memorable and satisfying read, Redhill's book leaves the reader with a child's sense of nostalgia and a sympathy for the impasses of adulthood. Agents, Jennifer Barclay and Ellen Levine. Author tour. (June 19)Forecast:This is the first Back Bay trade paperback original in a new program; the imprint plans to publish one original paperback each season. Trade paperback originals are no longer a novelty, but the decision to release a novel of the caliber of Redhill's debut (blurbed by Michael Ondaatje, Myla Goldberg and A.L. Kennedy, among others) in paperback should up the stakes and spur more discussion about the relative merits of cloth and paper.
Starred review from May 1, 2002
Martin Sloane is an Irish-Canadian artist haunted by his past, who retells his stories (both true and embellished) by creating magical boxes and dioramas. Jolene Iolas, a typically lost college freshman, first falls in love with the art and then with the older man behind them. They begin a passionate, 10-year affair that follows the heightening of both of their careers, and ends abruptly when Martin suddenly vanishes in the middle of the night after a strange visit from Jolene's college roommate. Jolene mourns, sinking in and out of depression, as she tries to reassemble the scraps of her life, and she tries to love again, still wondering what happened to Martin, questioning herself, feeding her guilt, and still, after all this time, searching for him. When a trace of him appears years later, she is forced to confront her loss directly all over again. Redhill presents a remarkable first novel--his powerful language and mastery of character are thrilling, and the plot, though it sometimes threatens to, never becomes cliche or predictable. A fantastic exploration into the guises and complexities of art, love, and memory.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2002, American Library Association.)