The Book of Hidden Wonders

A Novel by
Polly Crosby
Park Row Books, 2020

Magical Realism is a genre that is, by its definition, ill-suited to rigid classifications.

This MR story opens on a girl, Romilly Kemp, living with her artist father (and a cat) in a decaying manor house in the English countryside in the late 1980s. Her father is affectionate but distant and, after a bit of exposition, he conceives of a series of picture books which will feature his daughter. The books become wildly successful, causing stress on young Rom, already troubled by coming of age issues, issues that are compounded by some mysterious happenings.

This sounds a bit like a formulaic YA book, but is actually a sophisticated study of a broken family and the confusing world that is revealed to a girl as she grows older. There are plenty
of dark moments here; this is not a feel-good novel. Romilly is an unreliable narrator, and the line between reality and fantasy is continually being crossed. It should be read cold, any plot summary will ruin the magic. I may be a sap but the ending moved me to tears; I’m still haunted by it.

Highest recommendation but literalists and curmudgeons beware.