The Magick Bookshop [Paperback]

Kala Trobe (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 8, 2004

In the heart of Oxford sits Malynowskys Bookshop selling books that both lure and intimidate. Six short stories take you inside this little world full of mystery, real magick, and moral lessons. Meet Paul Magwitch, possessed by the spirit of a young girl who compels him to buy expensive things he does not want; the Witch in the City, who ekes out a living reading Tarot for strangers in the park; and Eurydice, a shop employee who tragically becomes the victim of a customers magical attack.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Kala Trobe (UK) is the main nom-de-plume of Kate La Trobe-Bateman. She is author of the award-winning work of fiction The Magick Bookshop and the new Magick in the West End, a dazzling collection of short stories that brim with imagination and come straight from the theatre-lit, gaudy, blinding, yet, bewitching streets of London's West End - and all seen through the eyes of a magically-minded young and aspiring occultist at one of Londons most well-known esoteric bookshops.

Kala Trobe is the author of several works of Llewellyn non-fiction including Invoke the Goddess: Visualizations of Hindu, Greek, & Egyptian Deities, Magic of Qabalah, Invoke the Gods: Exploring the Power of Male Archetypes and The Witchs Guide to Life, and is also published by Random House UK.
Ms Trobe currently divides her time between London and Amsterdam.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Magwitch The week I started at Malynowsky's, in June 1996, was the same that the newspapers carried the headings: "Majority of Britons no longer believe in God," and "God is dead: Nietzsche. Nietzsche is dead: God." The British Humanist Association had just conducted a MORI poll and discovered that, while 67 percent of the populace considered themselves religious, only 43 percent believed in a God. Not only this, but it rained and rained interminably. Mr. Malynowsky was undeterred.

"The rain is a wonderful sign, Kala," he told me as he handed me an antiquarian specimen with a binding like brie rind, "The rain is a symbol of knowledge, like this book. It comes from Chokmah, the sphere of Wisdom on the Tree of Life; it is God's thoughts descending on Malkuth, the Earth plane. Yes, the rain falls effortlessly from the unfathomable mind of God, fertilising all that it touches, even in these ancient city streets! The trick is to make ourselves a vessel for this Chokmahrain, so that we can collect and hold God's wisdom."

"That's a lovely way of looking at it!" I said, putting this weather immunity down to his Polish origins as much as to the mystic bent. Britons, as well as not believing in God, complain endlessly about the rain, and then bitterly rebuke the sun for being too hot when he occasionally shows his face. Atmospheric intolerance and atheism seem to go hand in hand.

"Not just lovely-also true!" announced my new employer, his blue eyes dancing with merriment beneath salt-and-pepper eyebrows. "All of life is an analogy of the mind of God-magick teaches us this. There is no such thing as bad weather, only a bad attitude to God's many moods!"

I looked through the dusty, darkened windows at the silver streaks outside, and felt that pleasure which can only come when the rain is pummeling on the roof and flags, a cold wind weaving in and out of the liquid columns or blowing them sideways into wet explosions on passersby, and one is warm and snug inside. A shiver of contentment passed through me.

"Yes, we are like a capsule, floating on the river," remarked Mr. Malynowsky, a phrase which was soon to become familiar to my ears. "A bubble which many might like to burst. But we shan't let them, shall we, my dear?"

I looked at him, surprised. "What do you mean?" I ventured.

"Ah, my dear, so young, so much to learn. The first thing you must know is that every action has its equal and opposite reaction. For every good thing we believe and do, there will spring up an adverse reaction. You and I belong to the Pillar of Mercy, but there are just as many adherents to the Pillar of Severity. Not a bad thing; we need the balance. But then we have the flip-side . . . "

"Flip-?"

"Yes, I'm afraid we do. The Klippoth. The husks or harlots, as we call them. These are the spirits of evil, and there are just as many in Oxford as anywhere else, Kala, or possibly more. But I do not wish to alarm you, my dear, though forewarned is forearmed, as they say. You will learn a lot working here; it is a focalpoint for many energies, as you will see."

Had Mr. Malynowsky not been so gentlemanly, well-educated, and respected, I might have been deterred at this point. Actually, that's a lie. I might have felt I ought to be deterred, but the lure of the shop, with its wondrous rows of tomes and spectral nooks and the fact that my boss was merely vocalising what I already thought-but was unaccustomed to hearing said out loud-far outweighed my desire to be sensible. I smiled at him with genuine confidence.

"I can't wait," I said. I did not have to.

Two minutes later, a blur of brown Barbour coat crashed through the door, shedding silver beads of God's wisdom from its waxy surface, and generous streams of Chokmahic insight from the numerous bags clutched in the red hands of its breathless owner. The pigskin carpet* all around his feet was soon as sodden as the gentleman's beard, over which he stared bespectacled. His eyes were large and rather frantic, and as they met Mr. Malynowsky's, the man, who was in his mid-forties I estimated, flushed like a teenager.

"I'll just put my bags down, if I may," he exhaled, depositing at the foot of the mahogany counter seven or eight extremely heavylooking carriers from Blackwell's and the Oxford University Press Bookshops.

"Certainly, Sir," nodded Mr. Malynowsky mildly. "And how may we help you?"

The man looked at us both, and then swept the shop with his eyes. They nearly bulged, and he began to hyperventilate again. "I just want to look around and buy some books, if that's all right." As he spoke, the man headed for the fine bindings shelf, his hands shaking-with the strain of his shed load, or with something else? He grabbed two or three beauties from the middle, then hurried to the next section, the incunabula, and pulled off the fattest specimens, piling them all up in his arms.

"You might like to put...(Continues)

Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Llewellyn Publications; Stated First Edition edition (May 8, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0738705152
• ISBN-13: 978-0738705156
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,797,793 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Enchanting Prose and Exquisite Diction, May 12, 2004

By 

Janet Boyer "Author, Blogger, Radio Host" (Pennsylvania) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Magick Bookshop (Paperback)

"One thing that's really become obvious to me since working in Malynowsky's is the way in which the myths re-enact themselves daily, both for our enlightenment, and simply because they are well-established patterns. Many would argue for the latter alone, and many that the former was the whole point, but for me, both seem pertinent. As my boss likes to point out, it's a fascinating level we inhabit." --The Magick Bookshop

Author Kala Trobe comes from a long line of religious visionaries, including Alice A. Bailey. She has been rigorously trained in magick and occult symbology, and has worked as a professional Tarot reader and psychic medium. In addition, she has also managed an antiquarian bookshop and holds an Honors degree in English literature from Leeds University.

With enchanting prose and exquisite diction, Trobe weaves her education and experience into six short stories filled with magick, myth, and mystery in her brand new book The Magick Bookshop The hub of archetypal psychodramas and Qabalistic magick, Malynowsky's antiquarian bookshop sits in the heart of Oxford, England, and is the sort of place that makes people go "oooh!" as soon as they cross its threshold.

In the first story, "Magwitch", we encounter a character named Mr. Paul Magwitch--a man who spends an obscene amount of money at Malynowsky's (and everywhere else). It becomes evident that his gluttonous sprees for material goods is inextricably and psychically linked with the death of a school girl named Jude.

The myth of Orpheus and Erydice emerge with a modern twist in the second tale, "Orpheus". Eurydice, hired by Kala the shop manager, becomes smitten by a musician. However, a dark spell cast by the obsesseed Aristaeus bewitches Eurydice--with tragic results.

In "Living Light", a devotee of Apollo is led to Malynowsky's Bookshop to seek advice. Anna's desire to maintain mystical union while keeping cynicism at bay send her on a mystical journey through the Qabalah, led by the capable Kala.

"Thus Spake Ron" is a tale of spiritual seduction and control. This story portrays the dynamics between a spiritual teacher named Ron--and the extent that a girl named Lauren will reliquish her power in the quest for Truth.

"Witch in the City" continues the story of Lauren, after she escapes from the physical, mental, spiritual, and sexual brutality of Ron's version of magickal training. Lauren ekes out a livng reading Tarot cards in the park, and a colorful array of sojourners accompany her on the path to freedom.

The last story, "Karma Burners", finds Kala facing Simon, her Roman master from ages past. In a past life, Kala was Simon's servant...and he sent her to the Coliseum. What will Kala do with the sword as she remembers his cruelty--and holds Simon's life in her hands?

It's been a long time since I've read such a delightful work of fiction...and what a special treat that this collection of short stories is laced with esoterica, symbolism, Tarot, archetypes, auras and other realities of the New Age. Even better, Trobe has such a delicious style of writing; I actually found myself stopping at certain passages, uttering a "wow" under my breath, and then re-reading it with admiration. (E.g. If blue could boil, her irises were that color.) Is that not succulent?

Kudos to Ms. Trobe for a fine collection of mystical stories that indirectly educates and thoroughly entertains.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Disappointed Amongst All the Raves, April 1, 2005

By 

Root (United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Magick Bookshop (Paperback)

Unfortunately, I did not find this book to be that mind-blowing in any respects. While it is true that this book conveyed a very good picture of the "Aquitarian Bookshop", many of the stories hardly focused on the bookshop at all.

I must give Ms. Trobe credit where it is due however, and agree with many of the other reviewers who comment of the author's diction. Enrapturing and powerful, while not being too hedonistic or "thesaurus-y". I applaud her for this much.

That being said, I would have to admit shamefully that the best story in the book was the first one, "Magwitch". Many of the other ones were too drawn out for their own good, and rather just focused on the lives of magical people throughout such hardships as abusive, crazed cult leaders; and unloving step-parents.

This book also contains small bits of "magick" mixed in with a dizzying array of Qabbala jargon. While I claim very little knowledge of this subject, I would have liked to find stories which involve magic and suspense, rather than confusing pieces of Judeo-Christian religious stigma.

I was honestly expecting this to be an excellent book for the modern Pagan to sate their fiction hunger. Sadly, I found a bad mix of Qabbala and long, drawn out, however beautifully worded, stories.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Rain Taxi Review of Books, Vol. 9, No. 3, Fall 2004, September 17, 2004

By 

Kris Lawson (America) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Magick Bookshop (Paperback)

The Magick Bookshop: Stories of the Occult
Reviewed by Kris Lawson

All bookstores have an aura to them, embodying the peace and repose to be found whilst disentangling a particularly twisted phrase or absorbing a finely tuned sequence of words, buffering the distance between your mind and the world outside the store. This magic exists in every bookstore, event the most brightly-lit big box showcase of overruns, bit is most evident in the small stores, those run by a dedicated and loving staff and committed to the worship of the written word.

British author Kala Trobe has set her collection of short stories in one such bookshop, an occult emporium that we have always imagined exists somewhere. Tucked away in Oxford behind think stone walls and "slightly convex" stained glass windows, Malynowsky's is filled with aged and arcane volumes, with a pigskin carpet underfoot capturing the bits and flakes of the ages. Whether these are literally flakes form the aging stock of parchment and vellum or from the more distasteful characters that can infest any place dedicated to the study of alternative spirituality, both are present and the clerks are careful to make them all welcome. "It is amazing," Trobe writes, "to find just how many of us there are who would be prepared to come out of the occult broom closet, if only they could be guaranteed not to be labeled insane, or Satanic."

Trobe's tales are drawn from the experiences and anecdotes that she and the other clerks share: the mystery behind the customer who suddenly and uncharacteristically buys the most expensive and showy merchandise; the new clerk's harrowing story of escaping a cult and supporting herself by giving Tarot readings; why another clerk feels such a strong connection with a habitually-drunken professor. Permeating the stories is the wisdom of the shop's owner, Mr. Malynowsky, whose Qabbalistic advice has more to do with the store's success than its sales. Under his influence, the clerks form a small family in their refuge and each story shows a different aspect of the study of magic.

Although Trobe balances the high-flown philosophy with a grounding of earthly humor, The Magick Bookshop may be a bit too arcane for the casual reader. But whether you practice any branch of the occult or are a skeptic, Trobe has created an enchanting glimpse at a world that all bibliophiles would like to enter.
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RAIN TAXI, a winner of the Alternative Press Award for Best Arts & Literature Coverage, is a quarterly publication that publishes reviews of literary fiction, poetry, and nonfiction with an emphasis on works that push the boundaries of language, narrative, and genre. Essays, interviews, and in-depth reviews reflect RAIN TAXI's commitment to innovative publishing.