Review: Sarah Canary

Sarah Canary

by Karen Joy Fowler

WHY I READ THIS BOOK

Fowler is best known as the author of "The Jane Austen Book Club." Based on that book, I had dismissed the author as a chick lit writer and never so much as glanced at her other work.

Several months ago, there was an ongoing online discussion about why female authors were rarely nominated for a certain sci-fi book award. (Unfortunately, I didn't bookmark any of the articles, and now I can't find them.) As a result of that discussion, some well-known authors posted lists of what they considered underappreciated sci-fi books by female authors, and "Sarah Canary" was on one of those lists.

Fowler wrote sci-fi? Really? Yup. In fact, she began her writing career publishing sci-fi short stories. (Artificial Things, 1986) My understanding, though, is that she doesn't write hard sci-fi with spaceships and robots and such. Wikipedia defines her style as "eccentric tales of implausible history." I guess it's more like science fantasy.

And I must confess I'm a little more interested in "The Jane Austen Book Club" based on this statement from Wikipedia: "Although it is not a science fiction or fantasy work, science fiction does play an integral part to the novel's plot."

ABOUT "SARAH CANARY"
It's almost impossible to summarize the plot of "Sarah Canary" without giving away too much. This is how it is described on the back of the book: "When an enigmatic woman cloaked in black wanders into a Chinese labor camp in the Pacific Northwest of 1873, one man is chosen to lead her out into the woods. But soon, he becomes the enchanted follower. Thus begins a magical journey."

MY THOUGHTS
Oh. my. goodness. Wow.

And to think I might have missed this book based on a false assumption about the author.

"Sarah Canary" completely captivated me. It is very well-written in every way, from grammatical styling to story structure. And it has so many different angles - a fantastical journey that is a metaphor or a fable; examination of cultural differences and feminism; legends and history.

As soon as I finished it, I wanted to read it again. There is so much going on in this book that I could read it over and over to analyze it and dissect it.

I wish I could say something incredible to convince you to read this, but I really can't find the words except to say this: "Sarah Canary" is a treasure and I highly recommend it.

RATING