The Stormwatcher (Hardcover)

by Graham Joyce (Author), John Picacio (Author) "Look through the face, Jessie..." (more)
Key Phrases: violet rain, owl watch, Bad Sister, Pere Lachaise, Harley Street (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Stormy emotions and turbulent revelations charge the tense atmosphere of this cunning exercise in magic realism, first published in the U.K. as a paperback original in 1998. Set in the French countryside, it presents the daily interactions of a group of British travelers who discover that vacationing together is no holiday. James, the outing organizer, is an arrogant prat who spends most of the trip demeaning his easygoing friend Matt; Matt's wife, Chrissie; and Rachel, an ex-mistress whom James has asked along to help his wife, Sabine, supervise their two girls. As friction among them intensifies, the lies and self-deceptions that have kept them civil give way to truths that emerge as a shadowy alternate reality. The novel's building emotional tempest is catalyzed by Jessie, James and Sabine's precocious preteen daughter, who secretly converses with a mysterious, seemingly invisible adult instructor. The identity of this instructor is the key to unlocking the narrative's occasional sidesteps into fantasy. Though his characters sometimes seem too self-aware to behave so meanly, Joyce (The Facts of Life) gives them solid psychological grounding and uses every detail of the external environment-from primitive paintings in a nearby cave to the increasingly ominous weather-as a carefully crafted corollary to their states of mind. Readers who have savored his recent excursions into mainstream fantasy will find this early tale a piquant foretaste.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Description
Night Shade Books is proud to present the first hardcover and U.S. publication of this standout novel from one of the most exciting, literate, and compelling authors around. Any fan of genre bending writers such as Jonathan Lethem, Dan Simmons, or Jonathan Carroll should not miss this book.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 271 pages
• Publisher: Night Shade Books; Limited edition (September 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1892389363
• ISBN-13: 978-1892389367
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,575,619 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The lying game, June 20, 2005

By	bonsai chicken (United States) - See all my reviews

This novel, originally published in the U.K. in 1998, concerns a group of friends vacationing at a remote house in the French countryside. High-powered executive James, who suffers from an unknown chronic illness, his French wife Sabine, their two children Beth and Jessie, James' secretary Rachel, with whom he has had an affair sometime in the past, James' longtime friend Matt, who was employed by James until he was ostensibly made redundant, and Matt's wife Chrissie, whose open sexuality tends to make people uncomfortable. The story centers around Jessie, the precocious, disturbed eleven year-old who is being secretly tutored in forbidden knowledge by a mysterious instructor. Jessie becomes the catalyst for increased tensions and rapidly fraying relationships among the adults, all of whom have secrets from one another. The approaching storm in the title takes on more than one meaning...

It's hard to put a label on this book. Though there are a couple very frightening sequences and a lot of suspense, it's not horror. Nor does dark fantasy seem appropriate. Magical realism? Perhaps. There are some events of questionable reality, but whether they are literal or psychological aberrations is open to debate. What it most certainly is is a fascinating relationship drama involving some extraordinarily well-realized characters, and a dark-edged mystery. The story itself is brilliantly constructed almost in a puzzle-like fashion. The background of Jessie's instructor is told in a parallel narrative to the main story, until it all comes full circle at the end, evoking a kind of symmetry. Novels rarely come as perfect as this. I can't say enough about Graham Joyce. This is the third consecutive novel I've read of his and they just get better.

This Night Shade Books edition is signed and limited to 1000 copies.