In the bestselling tradition of The Night Circus and Sarah Waters’s The Little Stranger, Adam McOmber’s hauntingly original debut novel follows a young woman in Victorian England whose peculiar abilities help her infiltrate a mysterious secret society.
Young Jane Silverlake lives with her father at a crumbling family estate on the edge of Hampstead Heath. Jane has a secret—an unexplainable gift that allows her to see the souls of manmade objects—and this talent isolates her from the outside world. Her greatest joy is wandering the wild heath with her neighbors, Madeline and Nathan. But as the friends come of age, their idyll is shattered by the feelings both girls develop for Nathan, and by Nathan’s interest in a cult led by Ariston Day, a charismatic mystic popular with London's elite. Day encourages his followers to explore dream manipulation, with the goal of discovering a new virtual reality, a place he calls the Empyrean.
A year later, Nathan has vanished, and the famed Inspector Vidocq arrives in London to untangle the events that led up to Nathan’s disappearance. As a sinister truth emerges, Jane realizes she must discover the origins of her talent and use it to find Nathan herself, before it’s too late.
Young Jane Silverlake lives with her father at a crumbling family estate on the edge of Hampstead Heath. Jane has a secret—an unexplainable gift that allows her to see the souls of manmade objects—and this talent isolates her from the outside world. Her greatest joy is wandering the wild heath with her neighbors, Madeline and Nathan. But as the friends come of age, their idyll is shattered by the feelings both girls develop for Nathan, and by Nathan’s interest in a cult led by Ariston Day, a charismatic mystic popular with London's elite. Day encourages his followers to explore dream manipulation, with the goal of discovering a new virtual reality, a place he calls the Empyrean.
A year later, Nathan has vanished, and the famed Inspector Vidocq arrives in London to untangle the events that led up to Nathan’s disappearance. As a sinister truth emerges, Jane realizes she must discover the origins of her talent and use it to find Nathan herself, before it’s too late.
Review
Brilliant book! This book contained this chilly Victorian
atmosphere that I just adored to bits and pieces. The book was twisted and
contorted in a way like what The Night Circus did to me. It was like a complex
mix of flavors as if I just taken a bite of a rare fruit on some fantasy land.
It seemed like there were layers after layers of story and flavors within the
novel. I was desperately trying to identify each flavoring as if I was trying
to figure out a recipe by taste. And like a fancy restaurant dish, The White
Forest was in so many way exquisite and brilliant in every single possible way.
The mystery within the book seemed to add a little crispness to the dish, the
romance added a little spice, while the jealousy added sweet bitterness.
Jane has a special ability which I found really original
(but did remind me of the Fullbring in Bleach). I loved Jane. She was lonely,
and knew little emotions. At first I thought of Sai (due to the lack of
emotions) but Jane was actually really different from Sai. Jane craved every
ounce of attention from her friends, Maddy and Nathan. It was so weird. (I like
to furrow my bows a lot and trust me, this book didn't help me undo that
habit). She was not your girl with a perfect heart (and you don't know how much
I loved that). Jane craved attention from her friends and in return Nathan
yearned for more knowledge of Jane's gift. The obsessive desires in this book
really reminded me of some crazy mad scientist with a peculiar experiment, this
in turn made me feel somewhat uncomfortable (in a good way) and perhaps thought
that Jane was a little "dangerous". And odd doesn't even cover Jane,
the world need to invent a word just to describe her. The complex levels within
Jane herself was already mind boggling, imagine a mystery and relationship with friends. She was so
different from all the other characters out there, so rare that you just want
to treasure her forever. Jane just tugged at my heartstrings.
I do have to say the lyrical style of this book was hard for
me to get into. I was confused in the beginning and had to adapt to the style.
Moreover, by having the narration going from past to present, it also confused
me to a certain degree. But this book in some way was perfect for me right now.
It brought something different for me to the table and I needed a change. :) I
didn't want a nice simple story that a five year old can predict. I wanted
something deep, something that can slowly seep into my skin and chilled my
bones. This gave me that and beyond. I will definitely read this book over to
just experience the feelings once again furthermore perhaps I had missed
something. ;)
Adam McOmber’s novel, The White Forest, will be published by Touchstone, an imprint of Simon and Schuster, in September 2012. He is also the author of a book of short stories, This New & Poisonous Air(BOA Editions, 2011). His work has appeared in Conjunctions, StoryQuarterly, The Fairy Tale Review, Third Coast, Quarterly West, The Greensboro Review and Arts and Letters . He has been nominated for two 2012 Pushcart Awards and received an AWP Intro Award. He lives in Chicago and teaches at Columbia College where he is also the associate editor of the literary magazine Hotel Amerika.
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Book looks great. Thanks.
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Awesome review. Glad you enjoyed it!
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