A gothic novel that draws the reader in from the first page. I was intrigued by the cover and remained intrigued through the story. Enjoyed it.

𝑰𝒕 𝒎𝒂𝒚 𝒃𝒆 𝒂 𝒓𝒆𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕, 𝒃𝒖𝒕, 𝒕𝒐 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒃𝒐𝒅𝒚, 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒆𝒚𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒂𝒏 𝒊𝒏𝒗𝒂𝒔𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒄𝒊𝒆𝒔, 𝒘𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒐𝒄 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒑𝒉𝒚𝒔𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒍 𝒆𝒄𝒐𝒔𝒚𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒎.

Heidi von Palleske’s novel left me thinking about fate, the word has a tendency to conjure happy circumstances for people who forget that fate is a two sided coin, you get the bad with the good. The characters living on these pages lose their eye, their mother, their innocence, and sometimes their very sanity. Gareth is witness to his friend Johnny’s unlucky turn on their tree climbing adventure as he plummets to the ground, costing him an eye. An accident that reveals his own older brother Tristan has a bad eye himself. So begins the importance of vision, be it insight or physical boundaries. For Gareth, there is untold horror in learning his friend’s eye ‘had to come out’. It is a peculiar thing to stare at the unnatural replacement sitting in his socket “with something that seemed to have a drawing of an eye on it.” Unnatural, creepy.

Accompanying his brother Tristan to his appointments for his defective eye, Gareth encounters twin girls. These are no ordinary twins, Blanca and Clara speak their own secret language and are the color of snow, their own eyes pink with snowy lashes- he is enthralled. They are incredible, magical, like something out of a fairy-tale! The twins don’t feel magical, living with the crusty grandfather, separated from their mother who lives on the shore of Lake Ontario in a yellow cottage. A strange, broken woman, their mother, whose past is as much a mystery to them as their own origins.

Johnny’s mother Hilda (a German immigrant) struggles with the loss of her son’s eye, wondering if the old ways of her German roots could have protected him, but sure they have no power in Canada. Thinking about her past, longing for who she was and embracing memories of a boy (Siegfried) she once knew, she remembers his special gift, giving birth to an idea. This friend from her past could well be salvation for her son, a last hope for normalcy in hiding the deformity of a missing eye. So begins trips to the country and people she left behind and a fascinating history of eye making. Hilda and Siegfried’s story is as captivating as every character’s in this Gothic tale that takes place in the 1960’s and 1980’s, “between the shores of Lake Ontario and Berlin”.

The secrets surrounding Blanca and Clara’s mother Faye is shameful, devastating- a stain on the family the girls very presence reminds their mean grandfather of. Through a turn of luck, the twins are given a dream to strive for under the mentoring of a kind woman who lives downstairs. If Johnny’s future is changed through his mother’s friend in Germany, it is Esther who opens the world for the twins. Both Gareth and Johnny’s lives are weaved into Blanca and Clara’s, through tragic circumstances, hunger, desire and love. Art, music, dark family secrets, and second chances proving we’re never too old to find happiness. It is a tale about what we leave behind and how we reinvent ourselves, it is escape and acceptance both. This was a gorgeous novel about being an immigrant trying to fit into a new way of life as much as being an outsider from birth in your own land through the twins experiences. I loved it, it was such a unique tale with the flavoring of myths, it took me back to tempestuous classics I feverishly read when I was a teenager. This isn’t coming out until March 2021 but well worth the wait! I will snatch up any future books Heidi von Palleske writes!

Publication Date: March 2, 2021

Dundurn

At first I felt a bit confused, but when I started rolling, well, it rolled. Although the character development and the intimacy we experience with these characters solidify the novel, it also builds the reader's connection and makes for a very enjoyable undertaking. I found myself returning to the book quickly, and well, fellow readers, isn't that the true test? The building narrative warrants attention to detail and rewards the reader with human and emotional connections that are often missing in quick-read fiction. I really like this book.

I enjoyed this despite early concerns it would not live up to its title...it proved me wrong. Delighted to have read this, it’s a refreshing change and leaves the reader a little unsettled as it takes your mind a bit of stretching to get around the ‘not reality’ but totally enjoyable!
Characters were so well developed, some settings were not quite believable, didn’t slow the plot down at all.

This is a beautifully written novel that's difficult to categorize. There are elements of magical realism, romance, mystery and has a gothic vibe.

It's an eclectic books that slowly grabs you and immerses you into its world.

The characters are fully realized and the relationships between them are absorbing.

I highly recommend taking the time to go on this journey.

I received a free advance copy and am leaving my honest review.

This was a beautifully strange book, with great, complex characters, fully realized in their motivations, flaws, and growths. They will walk with me a while. I was really pleased with how well-crafted the entire narrative is, even though it is bizarre. But in the best ways, which isn’t something I think I knew was a possibility. Some of the historical figures and background were clumsily introduced, and a couple of the dramatic reveals really stretched credulity, but this was ultimately a wonderfully compelling read, and one I would recommend for those who don’t mind sitting in unease.