Customer Reviews

The Facts Of Life - A Novel

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A psychic matriarch, seven daughters and one magical boy hold center stage in Graham Joyce's latest novel, The Facts of Life, a work situated comfortably somewhere between the best mainstream fiction and the subtlest works of fantasy. Be it magical realism or literary horror, the key ingredients here, as with all of Joyce's works, are characters you can reach out and touch. And they touch you right back.
Set in during and post-WWII Coventry, England, the novel opens with "wayward ... fey" Cassie Vine and the bundle in her arms, Frank, whom she fails to give away to a prospective foster mother. Returning home to her mother, Martha and her six sisters, Cassie triggers a discussion that will set the tone and struggle for the rest of the novel. As Cassie herself "is the last girl on Earth fit to raise a child," Martha and her daughters agree that Frank should be raised by the entire clan.
Passed from Martha and Aunt Beatie Vine's own care to Aunt Una and Uncle Tom's farm, to his twin aunts Evelyn and Ina, it becomes clear that Frank is special and possessed of special abilities. Here at the farm, young Frank discovers the Man-Behind-The-Glass, a mysterious figure trapped in the Earth, constantly demanding that Frank bring him things.
Meanwhile, the secret of Frank's conception remains with Cassie, buried deep in the night that German bombers circled over Coventry dropping incendiary and explosive payloads until most of the city was leveled. Cassie, who is regularly possessed of "blue" periods during which she tends to wander far, must often leave Frank in the care of his more stable relatives, transferring him from household-to-household, including an experimental commune and a house with an active mortuary parlor in the back. From each he takes away a lesson about life.
Through it all, Martha watches, patiently directing Franks care from place-to-place, occasionally visited at the front door by precognitive apparitions that help her pave the way.
Though a quiet work, The Facts of Life is no less gripping than Joyce's more conventional work in novels like Requiem and The Tooth Fairy. It's gently graceful characters and precise language makes this alternately horrific and humorous work a treasure whose pages will have slipped through the reader's fingers far too quickly.

Graham Joyce just keeps getting better. This novel is beautifully written, flawlessly plotted, with very well drawn characters. It is quite funny in places, and it vividly evokes the bombing of Coventry and its aftermath. The elements of fantasy are woven seemlessly together with the more "realistic" elements. You really come to care about this family. In his earlier novels, Joyce's endings are sometimes disappointing, but that is not the case here - the ending is perfect.

Joyce's supernatural thrillers with exotic settings(such as Smoking Poppy, Indigo and Requiem)are among the best of their kind, but he is even better at coming of age stories set in working class Britain, such as The Tooth Fairy and this book. The Facts of Life reminded me more of magic realists Gabriel Garcia Marquez or Isabelle Allende than it did of "genre" fantasy or horror.

I can't think of any contemporary novelists whose work I enjoy more than Joyce. I can't wait for the next one.

Joyce (Graham Joyce) is one of my favorite authors. I started with The Dark Sister, then I inhaled The Tooth Fairy, and quickly read everything else. The Facts of Life was highly anticipated, and now I know why.
Joyce has a gift for description and humanity that flows through his pages and into the reader. He doesn't care whether you believe in the extraordinary traits he gives three of the main characters (just as he disregarded the people who say the tooth fairy doesn't exist), he presents it in a way that makes it not only real but almost mundane. He takes Life, and imbues it with unforgettable reality.

The Facts of Life left me breathless.

A friend insisted that I had to read this book since he had loved it so much. I also greatly enjoyed it, and I won't give a synopsis of the story, because you can read that elsewhere. The characters are so vivid and alive. There is Martha, the matriarch of the family, and her several daughters. Cassie, the youngest has an illegitimate son named Frank, whom she almost gave away when he was a baby. The story follows Frank's growing-up years near Coventry, England before and during WWII. Graham Joyce has a knack for vivid descriptions. The bombing of Coventry during the war is described in such detail, that I could feel the horror and also every tremor. There is a description of an undertaking parlor as seen through young Frank's eyes that is wonderful. Also, the ending is so extremely satisfying and unexpected. We find out who "The Man Behind the Glass" is, and I never guessed it at all. I would really recommend this book as a compelling read. This should become a classic.

The Facts of Life by Graham Joyce is a magical read. If you like heart-warming stories with a good dash of eccentricity you will love this novel. This is the first book I've read by Graham Joyce and it is wonderfully written. I expect I'll be reading everything else he has to offer.

I can hardly believe this is only the 7th review for this book; it seems almost criminal it has gone this unnoticed. Graham Joyce doesn't write bad books, and time spent reading his novels is never a waste. This book, in my opinion, may well be his opus, his all-around best work. You're not going to find too many people who agree with that; most people would pick "Tooth Fairy." I like "Tooth Fairy" quite a bit but I think I have to pick this book by the slimmest of margins, and I've read nearly all of Joyce's book.

"The Facts Of Life" is about a post-WWII family in Coventry (one of the hardest hit cities by Hitler's bombs, and rebuilt horribly), England, headed by the matriarch, Martha. Martha experiences strange portents and one of her 7 daughters, Cassie, is even more inclined to the supernatural, so much so she's flightly and perhaps insane to some people. She becomes pregnant in a vividly and evocatively written, chaos-fueled night revealed later in the book. Like her previous baby, she is expected to give up for adoption, because, as a somewhat crazy, irresponsible and *single* mother, the family does not think she can take care of the child. When she goes to give up her child, she is struck by a strange flurry of feelings and decides to keep her child, named Frank, consequences be damned.

From there the narrative proceeds in uneven leaps in time. For a while Frank stays with Cassie and Martha, but in time they need to move Frank to a different daughter's care in rotation. Things become more complicated as it becomes apparent Frank may have magical perceptions and abilities of his own.

While this book doesn't have a hard-fast plot, Joyce works fantastic characterizations, enough to put Charles Dickens, P.G. Wodehouse, or Honore de Balzac to shame.

Beatrice is the "smart" one, who works at an aircraft factory, joins a union, and becomes a Beat, espousing typical Socialist programming of the time, and experimenting with life in a commune. While she may come off as a Michael Stivak type, she tries harder not to be overbearing or talk down to anyone; the same holds true for her "significant other," Bernard is similar, a very earnest young man with a lot of ideals. These two characters are very sympathetic because they are never allowed to devolve into effete, elitist snobs.

There are so many good characters in this novel, it's hard to pick favorites. Tom and Aida are quite sympathetic, Tom is like the dad many people wished they had, strong, smart without being book smart, hard-working, kind, honest. Aida and Gordon are less sympathetic, but both are totally human.

But the narrative of the story focuses chiefly on Cassie and her son Frank, and while Cassie is not the most sympathetic character in the novel, she may be the most compelling even as she stands difficult to pigeonhole. "The Facts of Life" is the story of how Cassie takes Frank to live from home to home, sister to sister. It is interesting to see how they live at each place, and of the various challenges that come their way in the Brave New World of post-WWII England. This is not a story just about Cassie and Frank, it is also about a strong mother holding her family apart during difficult times; a man haunted by his dead friend's bride; the search for spirituality; the difficult fight between the ways of the old world and the encroachment of the new; the joys and sorrows of family life; growing up without dying inside; and many other themes.

"The Facts Of Life" presents one of the most vividly and intelligently written cast of characters that I can remember in my recent reading history. Just seeing what happens next to these people is enough driving force of the book, and the time and place that they live is evocative and compelling enough to almost make you feel like you were there, laughing and crying along with them.

I cannot recommend this novel highly enough; I think my review has done it poor justice, but to get a fairer sense of it, it should be read anyway. It's difficult to summarize and do proper homage to such a fine, fine book as this. Everyone should give this book a shot.

I picked up this pick not familar with the author Graham Joyce. It took me about 30 seconds into reading the inside flap that this book was going to be special. I can't speak for anyone else, but many a time when I am in a bookstore, I get an odd feeling that there is a book somewhere on those endless shelves that is calling out to me. Doesn't happen all the time, but when it does I try to hone in on the feeling...I had "this feeling" when I found "The Facts of Life".

The plot centers on the Vine family living in Coventry, England during World War II thru the mid fifties. Ah, they are an odd bunch! Martha the matriarch has seven (living) children all girls, now adults. All are married to a just as odd lot of husbands. All except her youngest daughter Cassie who is as the author puts it a bit "fey". Cassie suffers from "blue stetches" wanderings and apts to get herself in trouble. The trouble now,is Cassies unplanned pregnancy (her 2nd) to a baby boy. The first baby, a girl was put up for adoption; Cassie can not bear to have this happen again. So Martha decides since Cassie is too unstable to raise baby Frank alone, the sisters will tke turns raising him.

Up till now this seems like a not so unusual plot for a novel. Except Martha, Cassie, and possibly little Frank have all been bestowed (cursed) with the gift of precognition.

I will not give anymore of the plot away, but this is one hell of a beautiul novel. The story is told with an omniscient view point, so each character is finely drawn, and you really get a wonderful sense of their thoughts and lives.

Coventry if you recall was the town where Lady Godiva made her infamous ride, and that becomes part of the plot as well. Again, trying not to give anything away, there is a chapter that describes The Coventry Blitz, one of the worst bombings in World War II that will make you think that you are there.

For me the sense of "being there" was one of the great pleasures of this book. I felt as if I could taste the Dundee Cake, feel the warmth of the milky tea, and smell the ashen coal in the fireplace. But above all I felt the absolute love in a not so perfect family. Thank You Graham Joyce...you have gained a new fan.

there's a certain danger...
dear lovers of magical realism,
... in reading Graham Joyce's novels because he creates characters so real, and in many cases so wonderful, that when you are done you feel you have had your best friends move away never to return. The Facts of Life is the story of the Vine clan and particularly, but not exclusively, of Martha, the matriarch; Cassie, the fey daughter; and her son Frank, who also shares their ability to see and listen to the dead. They are faery folk for sure, but that fact is only alluded to, and as such this novel reflects the life of the fae in the modern world more accurately than most. If you want the details of the novel, read elsewhere, we simply want to tell you how very, very good it is.
kyela,
the silver elves

A psychic matriarch, seven daughters and one magical boy hold center stage in Graham Joyce's latest novel, The Facts of Life, a work situated comfortably somewhere between the best mainstream fiction and the subtlest works of fantasy. Be it magical realism or literary horror, the key ingredients here, as with all of Joyce's works, are characters you can reach out and touch. And they touch you right back.

Set in during and post-WWII Coventry, England, the novel opens with "wayward ... fey" Cassie Vine and the bundle in her arms, Frank, whom she fails to give away to a prospective foster mother. Returning home to her mother, Martha and her six sisters, Cassie triggers a discussion that will set the tone and struggle for the rest of the novel. As Cassie herself "is the last girl on Earth fit to raise a child," Martha and her daughters agree that Frank should be raised by the entire clan.
Passed from Martha and Aunt Beatie Vine's own care to Aunt Una and Uncle Tom's farm, to his twin aunts Evelyn and Ina, it becomes clear that Frank is special and possessed of special abilities. Here at the farm, young Frank discovers the Man-Behind-The-Glass, a mysterious figure trapped in the Earth, constantly demanding that Frank bring him things.
Meanwhile, the secret of Frank's conception remains with Cassie, buried deep in the night that German bombers circled over Coventry dropping incendiary and explosive payloads until most of the city was leveled. Cassie, who is regularly possessed of "blue" periods during which she tends to wander far, must often leave Frank in the care of his more stable relatives, transferring him from household-to-household, including an experimental commune and a house with an active mortuary parlor in the back. From each he takes away a lesson about life.

Through it all, Martha watches, patiently directing Franks care from place-to-place, occasionally visited at the front door by precognitive apparitions that help her pave the way.

Though a quiet work, The Facts of Life is no less gripping than Joyce's more conventional work in novels like Requiem and The Tooth Fairy. It's gently graceful characters and precise language makes this alternately horrific and humorous work a treasure whose pages will have slipped through the reader's fingers far too quickly.

As another reviewer put it, this truly is a book to savour. One could, for instance, suitably chew on Godiva chocolate as the characters muse, sometimes hilariously, on Coventry's famed Lady Godiva.
I am enjoying re-reading it now, a year after I first encountered its truly alive Vine family, and I will be teaching it in a college Introduction to Literature course soon. I find myself pausing at the end of lines wondering, "Just how did Graham Joyce do this?" He certainly has ears that hear all, and the dialogue seems like the people of Coventry actually speaking to us.
It is all a terrific accomplishment--a meditation on war, lust, politics, family, and emotional reconciliation that will make you an instant fan of his.