The Hidden Keys
by André Alexis
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Pub Date Aug 17 2017 | Archive Date Sep 25 2017
Serpent's Tail / Profile Books | Serpent's Tail
Description
A Note From the Publisher
Andre Alexis won the Giller Prize in 2015 for his novel, Fifteen Dogs.
Advance Praise
Even though the book is an old-fashioned quest yarn, Alexis s immense talent gives it an archetypal patina, glossing characters with shades of honor and subtlety that might have been missed in lesser hands. —Kirkus Reviews"
Even though the book is an old-fashioned quest yarn, Alexis s immense talent gives it an archetypal patina, glossing characters with shades of honor and subtlety that might have been missed in lesser hands.
Kirkus Reviews
Alexis did not rest on his laurels after winning the Giller The Hidden Keys brings to the forefront all the wit, grit, and talent we have come to expect from the reigning Canadian Fiction champ.
Libraire Drawn & Quarterly Book of the Week on Largehearted Boy
Though Tancred contains multitudes, one of Alexis s best tricks involves diverging from his hero s point of view to introduce a whole host of peripheral figures Nobody is a mere archetype in Alexis s universe, and far from digressions (or generic concessions), these subplots suggest the humane, egalitarian sensibility of a writer who s reluctant to simply instrumentalize his characters.
Quill & Quire
Alexis shapes his mash-up of ancient tropes and ironic flicks into a wonderful story about fate and family, mainly by peopling it with characters who are simultaneously archetypes and believable individuals. And the puzzle is pretty good, too.
Macleans
This gorgeously written, funny adventure tale will keep readers up finishing it while also quietly breaking their hearts with Alexis s keen observations of people, kindness, and cruelty.
Publishers Weekly, starred review
Even though the book is an old-fashioned quest yarn, Alexis s immense talent gives it an archetypal patina, glossing characters with shades of honor and subtlety that might have been missed in lesser hands.
Kirkus Reviews
[An] intellectual adventure yarn Great fun.
The Wall Street Journal
Alexis did not rest on his laurels after winning the Giller The Hidden Keys brings to the forefront all the wit, grit, and talent we have come to expect from the reigning Canadian Fiction champ.
Libraire Drawn & Quarterly Book of the Week on Largehearted Boy
A witty, punchy, loquacious novel Fun, propulsive reading that really is about the hunt, not the treasure.
Library Journal
The mystery itself does not disappoint, though the events that lead up to the reveal are as much of a gift as the endpoint itself. This unique adventure is a joyful and intelligent undertaking.
Foreword Reviews
Alexis is a literary cartographer of the highest calibre and The Hidden Keys should be book-marked on everyone s map.
Hamilton Review of Books
Though Tancred contains multitudes, one of Alexis s best tricks involves diverging from his hero s point of view to introduce a whole host of peripheral figures Nobody is a mere archetype in Alexis s universe, and far from digressions (or generic concessions), these subplots suggest the humane, egalitarian sensibility of a writer who s reluctant to simply instrumentalize his characters.
Quill & Quire
Alexis shapes his mash-up of ancient tropes and ironic flicks into a wonderful story about fate and family, mainly by peopling it with characters who are simultaneously archetypes and believable individuals. And the puzzle is pretty good, too.
Maclean s
It is difficult to convey how gracefully Alexis is able to conjure such baroque minutia without slipping into mannered excess. Just as it is difficult to convey Alexis s way of avoiding the trappings of genre while offering, in this case, all the essential pleasures of a crime novel: The Hidden Keys is somewhat akin to Elmore Leonard in its attention to idiosyncratic personal style and providing even minor players with active inner lives.
The Globe and Mail
Available Editions
| EDITION | Other Format |
| ISBN | 9781781258422 |
| PRICE | £12.99 (GBP) |
| PAGES | 224 |
Featured Reviews
Mary P, Reviewer
Serendipity is a wonderful thing. When you have had the marvellous good fortune to read great books such as Maria in the Moon and All The Wicked Girls, it’s hard to know what to read next. In these circumstances, it’s always going to be the next to read on my TBR pile.
The Hidden Keys was that book and it is just what was needed. Refreshingly different, quite quirky, it is a peculiar and charming mixture of contemporary fiction with almost Dickensian characters. At heart, it is a treasure hunt, with an abundance of clues, each one contained in an object bequeathed to his children by the immensely wealthy Robert Azarian.
Tancred Palmieri is a thief and our protagonist. A thief who these days largely steals to order. He never steals in his own 14th district of Toronto, because that is where his great friend Daniel Mandelshtam is a detective with the police force. An imposing figure, he is a 28 year old black man who has his own set of moral principles and would like to think that he is largely an honourable man.
When, by chance, he meets Willow Azarian, a heroin addict, in a bar in a less than salubrious part of town, she talks about her great wealth. Tancred likes her and is a little intrigued. Thinking no more about her though, he continues on his own path until one night he rescues Willow from being attacked by some thugs. She is moved by his kindness and tells him she will never forget him.
Some time passes, during which Tancred’s mother dies of cancer. Her dying wish was that he change his life and she had tried to elicit both Daniel’s help and that of their other great mutual friend, Olivier to ensure he did so.
Though his grief affects him greatly, Tancred has not changed his ways, but even so the thefts feel emptier now than once they did.
Three years after their first meeting, Willow seeks him out once more to ask him to carry out a task for her. She tells him of the unique items left to her and her siblings. Respectively, a painting, a poem, a Japanese screen, an architectural model of a Frank Lloyd Wright house and a bottle of Aquavit.
Willow believes these are clues to a missing fortune and because her brothers and sisters refuse to indulge her fanciful theories – believing them to be, at least in part, drug fuelled, Willow asks Tancred to ‘obtain’ these items for her so that together they can follow the clues.
However life is never quite as straightforward and into this mix two not so loveable rogues are interjected. A black albino named Colby is Willow’s dealer and he has a sidekick with a brutal streak called Sigismund Luxemburg, known universally as Freud. When Willow dies, these two have also heard her stories of hidden treasures and they are quite clear that they have rights in acquiring such riches.
How Tancred navigates these pitfalls, and how, with the help of an amusing and rather splendidly bizarre character, Alexander von Wurfel, who is a taxidermist to the rich, they find their way towards solving the treasure hunt is a beautifully told tale.
With moments of cold brutality, this is nevertheless a gentle and thoughtful book. Peppered with humour, intricately written, it is quietly full of philosophical moments questioning the nature of good and evil and what it means to be honourable.
Quite different, full of beautifully observed characters and ultimately quite moving, this original story will stay with me for some time to come.
I thought the end was a bit rushed and slightly flat, but overall a delightful read.
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