The reading of this book means that you are entering into the world of sorcery and witchcraft in a new way. The magic is retold and redefined, along with the horrors that in possesses. Element of fantasy is never ignored since Ann Patchett’s main intension was to keep it a fantasy rather that defining it as a tragedy.
It was appears as a tragedy in front of us because the apprentice loses everything along with her mentor. Parsifal the magician with a charming outlook dies in an accident along with his family, only his wife survived the deadly fangs of death. Her survival proved to be a catastrophe for her at the start because she could do nothing except to mourn on her loss.
However, after sometime Sabine realizes that her family has not left her at all. Being the wife of a magician she too knew how to use magic for her use and the more she uses her magic the more she realizes that she can bring her family back. The quest thus starts in a big way as she starts using what she has learned from her husband in the last twenty years.
After stories like Bel Canto and State of Wonder this is perhaps the first novel by the writer that has thrill in it and it is aptly described by the narrator Karen Ziemba. The desperation of a woman to have her family back really appeal to us as we go places like Los Angeles with her in the pursuit of happiness. The magic is awesome and it appears to get darker at every step.
