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juushikaTitle: The Porcelain Dove
Author: Delia Sherman
Published: New York: Dutton, 1993
Rating: 4 of 5
Page Count: 404
Total Page Count: 53,217
Text Number: 155
Read For: reading more fantasy of manners, checked out from the library
Short review: In eighteen century France, Berthe Duvet becomes chambermaid to Adèle du Fourchet, later the Duchess of Malvoeux. Centuries later, Berthe tells the story of a curse placed on the Duke's family which drove them all to madness and isolation until the youngest child and only daughter set out, against the backdrop of revolutionary France, to bring back the porcelain dove and break the curse. A lush period piece overlayed by both French society and everpresent magic, The Porcelain Dove is somewhat contrived but is still an enjoyable and imaginative novel. The story moves slowly and the period-styled language may turn away some readers, but Sherman's protagonist is sharp-witted, her characters vivid, and the heavy influence of magic sets her book apart. I recommend it.
The Porcelain Dove is somewhat difficult to summarize—the curse placed on the family and the porcelain dove that will break it lies at the heart of the book yet makes up only a fraction of the plot. For the rest, Berthe leisurely recounts her own and Adèle's lives, lingering sometimes on the fantastical—such as the Duke's obsession with birds—and sometimes on the wholly mundane. Nor does the plot tend towards contemporary politics, despite the revolutionary setting. The book moves at a slow pace, pushing the titular aspects to the end and making the text seem somewhat longer than its 400 pages, although it never quite becomes boring. Furthermore, Berthe writes in the language appropriate to her time and setting, and so the text is heavy with "tis" and "twas" as well as more than a handful of French phrases—and these aspects, too, weight down the book. The overall style feels somewhat contrived and just a little unbelievable, and it may deter some readers.
However, beyond these aspects (and in the case of the slow storytelling, sometimes because of them), Sherman nevertheless weaves an intriguing tale. Berthe is a servant, but her story is larger than life—a witty narrator, she writes from isolated, heavenly immortality; the house she serves is plagued by curses and obsessions; magic overlays almost all of her story. Sherman is not shy of magic and does not constrain it to hints and glimpses, but rather, almost like a character, it takes a central role. As a result, everything becomes brighter, a little more absurd, and is set on a grander scale. These magical aspects are not always positive, but where they are dark they are also amusingly absurd, and even where they create conflict they do so in a way which, not unlike the a fairy tale, spin a fantastic story for the reader.
I picked up The Porcelain Dove because I've recently begun reading "fantasy of manners" novels, but this book contains little of the plotting and social intrigue that generally defines the genre and concentrates much more on those overt fantasy elements which are usually dismissed. In that respect the book was something of a disappointment, but read for its own right I'm quite glad I picked up this novel. For those with an appetite for slower moving novels and with the patience to read through the contrived language, this book offers a magical tale. While not perfect and in some ways unmemorable, The Porcelain Dove is a welcome change from usual historical fiction, mixing a period setting with imaginative fantasy and a sharp narrator. I enjoyed it, and I recommend it.
Review posted here on Amazon.com.
Author: Delia Sherman
Published: New York: Dutton, 1993
Rating: 4 of 5
Page Count: 404
Total Page Count: 53,217
Text Number: 155
Read For: reading more fantasy of manners, checked out from the library
Short review: In eighteen century France, Berthe Duvet becomes chambermaid to Adèle du Fourchet, later the Duchess of Malvoeux. Centuries later, Berthe tells the story of a curse placed on the Duke's family which drove them all to madness and isolation until the youngest child and only daughter set out, against the backdrop of revolutionary France, to bring back the porcelain dove and break the curse. A lush period piece overlayed by both French society and everpresent magic, The Porcelain Dove is somewhat contrived but is still an enjoyable and imaginative novel. The story moves slowly and the period-styled language may turn away some readers, but Sherman's protagonist is sharp-witted, her characters vivid, and the heavy influence of magic sets her book apart. I recommend it.
The Porcelain Dove is somewhat difficult to summarize—the curse placed on the family and the porcelain dove that will break it lies at the heart of the book yet makes up only a fraction of the plot. For the rest, Berthe leisurely recounts her own and Adèle's lives, lingering sometimes on the fantastical—such as the Duke's obsession with birds—and sometimes on the wholly mundane. Nor does the plot tend towards contemporary politics, despite the revolutionary setting. The book moves at a slow pace, pushing the titular aspects to the end and making the text seem somewhat longer than its 400 pages, although it never quite becomes boring. Furthermore, Berthe writes in the language appropriate to her time and setting, and so the text is heavy with "tis" and "twas" as well as more than a handful of French phrases—and these aspects, too, weight down the book. The overall style feels somewhat contrived and just a little unbelievable, and it may deter some readers.
However, beyond these aspects (and in the case of the slow storytelling, sometimes because of them), Sherman nevertheless weaves an intriguing tale. Berthe is a servant, but her story is larger than life—a witty narrator, she writes from isolated, heavenly immortality; the house she serves is plagued by curses and obsessions; magic overlays almost all of her story. Sherman is not shy of magic and does not constrain it to hints and glimpses, but rather, almost like a character, it takes a central role. As a result, everything becomes brighter, a little more absurd, and is set on a grander scale. These magical aspects are not always positive, but where they are dark they are also amusingly absurd, and even where they create conflict they do so in a way which, not unlike the a fairy tale, spin a fantastic story for the reader.
I picked up The Porcelain Dove because I've recently begun reading "fantasy of manners" novels, but this book contains little of the plotting and social intrigue that generally defines the genre and concentrates much more on those overt fantasy elements which are usually dismissed. In that respect the book was something of a disappointment, but read for its own right I'm quite glad I picked up this novel. For those with an appetite for slower moving novels and with the patience to read through the contrived language, this book offers a magical tale. While not perfect and in some ways unmemorable, The Porcelain Dove is a welcome change from usual historical fiction, mixing a period setting with imaginative fantasy and a sharp narrator. I enjoyed it, and I recommend it.
Review posted here on Amazon.com.
