The much-anticipated new novel from the acclaimed author of 'The Gift ' -- a blend of detective novel, historical fiction and the painful coming-of-age of a confused young boy. 'Edgar was neither hard-bitten nor hard-boiled. He hadn't seen too much -- he'd hardly seen anything at all -- and he was bursting, overflowing, with inaccessible juvenile potency. No one would suspect him of a dangerous agenda. But he could not drive a car. And he still needed permission to stay out past suppertime.' Edgar Pagan, nearly thirteen, detests his English mother's new boyfriend, so when she takes her son away from him across the Atlantic to spend time with his American father, it is a relief and a new adventure for him. He is an unlikely detective, Edgar, but that is what he becomes at the Pagan house, home to his grandmother Fay, and again some years later when he sets down on paper the Pagan past, in particular the peculiar circumstances of his father's ancestors in the nineteenth century, 'the story of how I came to be me.' 'The Pagan House', David Flusfeder's extraordinary new novel, is the story of how a family came to be established, of the extreme nineteenth-century Christian sect, the Perfectionists, utopians with a belief in free love, who built that family home. It is about the life and tragic death of Mary Pagan, the shaping force in this unusual family, and the impending death 150 years later of her descendent, Edgar's grandmother, and the consequent destiny of that house. With its blend of detective novel, historical fiction and the painful coming-of-age of a confused young boy in Edgar, Flusfeder brilliantly weaves these strands together with style and verve. 'Wise and generous: a complete story and a very good one,' said Jonathan Franzen of Flusfeder's last book, 'the best book you'll give yourself all year,' said Will Self. With this new novel he has surpassed himself.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
Review
'In an unobtrusive way this is quite a book!"The Pagan House" is the kind of book that, as it eschews authorial stridency, plays down its finest passages of prose and tells its best jokes in an undertone, risks not being recognised as the small masterpiece that it is. After reading it, though, you won't want it any other way.' The Daily Telegraph 'Flusfeder employs thriller-like pace to his narrative. The prose is terse yet commanding and the historical passages hold up surprisingly well. But where Flusfeder excels is the timing and tying individual threads of disparate beings into an inevitable finale. How rare we acknowledge we are the climax of our past, people passing down the generation give us life, knowledge and qualities we could never imagine acquiring on our own.' Sunday Business Post '(A) madly brilliant, hilarious and tender portrait of adolescent angst.' The Daily Mail '"The Pagan House" is a sophisticated coming-of-age narrative with, appropriate to any shucking away of childish things, a darkening tone ushered in by the double-twist in Flusfeder's denouement.' The Sunday Telegraph 'David Flusfeder is a deliciously talented writer!"The Pagan House" is terrific fun!the early sections, which represent a picture of hormone-adolescence (are) up there with Martin Amis's "The Rachel Papers" and "Portnoy's Complaint" by Philip Roth.' The New Statesman 'Some wonderful moments.' The Guardian 'Captures perfectly the growing pains of a neglected child whose need for love feeds his fertile imagination!Flusfeder is a genuinely original writer with a fine ear and fluent style. His previous novel, "The Gift", raised expectations of a flowering talent; this does not disappoint.' The Mail on Sunday 'The evolution of the sect shows Flusfeder's writing at its most subtle and engaging as he traces the imperfections of the Perfectionists.' The Scotsman
About the Author
David Flusfeder is the author of four novels, Man Kills Woman, Like Plastic, which won the Encore Award, Morocco, and The Gift.
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2.0 out of 5 stars
Disconnected coming of age novel,
By Kiwifunlad (London, UK) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Pagan House (Kindle Edition)
The back cover describes Pagan House as " a brilliant blend of detective mystery, historical fiction and coming-of-age tale and a testament to the unknown parts our ancestors play in our seemingly unconnected lives." For the most part the narrator is an imaginative 12/13 year old boy who refers to himself as Edgar although his real name is Edward. Pagan House is where his paternal Grandmother lives in upstate New York. Edgar is visiting from London to see his father who is delayed and Edgar's days are either spent meeting some of the other children in this small one company town or spending time with his aging grandmother and her carer Warren. Every 2 or 3 chapters of these fairly tedious events the book flashes back to Edgar's ancestors George and Mary Pagan and John Pringle Stone. They were the founders of a religious sect which believed in the abolishment of marriage and private property.
The spurious connection of having Edgar as an ancestor is a contrived device and left me bewilderd as to its relevance. The repetitive coming of age activities of a young boy who has reached puberty and his pizza eating experiences all made for a rather long winded and dreary read with little of the "brilliant blend" so descibed on the back cover. Detective Mystery Booklovers will definitely want to leave this book on the shelf.
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