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Agnes Trussel is a surprisingly innocent young woman for having grown up in the country with parents who produce new offspring nearly every year. She is half seduced, half raped by the village bully, and when she discovers that he has made her pregnant she considers her options and, given heart by an unexpected windfall, chooses to leave home and travel to London rather than be forced into marrying her child's father. She finds herself at the door of a maker of fireworks, begging for the job of housekeeper, but hired on as his assistant instead. And from that moment, a world of new ideas is opened to her.
If I have one quibble with the book it's that Agnes is a bit too wonderful -- she exists on the thin, sharp edge of being a Mary Sue -- a beautiful young woman who doesn't realize she's beautiful, who is smart and resourceful, and who has a mot juste for every occasion. Borodale does manage to balance these qualities with some interesting flaws, including a stunning emotional obtuseness. And yet in spite of both her flaws and her good qualities, Agnes is interesting enough as a character to carry the story. However, for me, the most interesting character of the lot is John Blacklock, who in many ways remains a mystery, even to Agnes. His emotional life becomes clearer and deeper as the story progresses, and yet we can never quite come to know him. He is, like his fireworks, a flame that burns brilliantly but all-too-quickly. And as he says of the pyrotechnics themselves, the silence they carry within them is their true beauty.
Both Agnes and John are working to bring something new into the world. This is the story of how they each go about their work, together and yet always in the end, isolated from the rest of the world and even from each other. In fact, most of the books' characters are complex and interesting, though it's not always immediately apparent. They require patience, too, as does a plot which never quite becomes a romance or mystery, or strays into any other literary genre. It can sometimes be slow, sometimes even difficult, but I found it eminently worth the time, and in fact read the book in two long sittings.
And yes, it made me cry. That doesn't happen often, and I'm not going to say why it did for fear of spoiling the reader. Let me just say that it touched a deep and resonant chord in me with its slow sadness, and ultimate reaffirmation of life.
If I have one quibble with the book it's that Agnes is a bit too wonderful -- she exists on the thin, sharp edge of being a Mary Sue -- a beautiful young woman who doesn't realize she's beautiful, who is smart and resourceful, and who has a mot juste for every occasion. Borodale does manage to balance these qualities with some interesting flaws, including a stunning emotional obtuseness. And yet in spite of both her flaws and her good qualities, Agnes is interesting enough as a character to carry the story. However, for me, the most interesting character of the lot is John Blacklock, who in many ways remains a mystery, even to Agnes. His emotional life becomes clearer and deeper as the story progresses, and yet we can never quite come to know him. He is, like his fireworks, a flame that burns brilliantly but all-too-quickly. And as he says of the pyrotechnics themselves, the silence they carry within them is their true beauty.
Both Agnes and John are working to bring something new into the world. This is the story of how they each go about their work, together and yet always in the end, isolated from the rest of the world and even from each other. In fact, most of the books' characters are complex and interesting, though it's not always immediately apparent. They require patience, too, as does a plot which never quite becomes a romance or mystery, or strays into any other literary genre. It can sometimes be slow, sometimes even difficult, but I found it eminently worth the time, and in fact read the book in two long sittings.
And yes, it made me cry. That doesn't happen often, and I'm not going to say why it did for fear of spoiling the reader. Let me just say that it touched a deep and resonant chord in me with its slow sadness, and ultimate reaffirmation of life.
