The Lives of Shadows: An Illustrated Novel (Hardcover)

~ (Author) "JULIAN SHOULD HAVE NEVER ANSWERED THE DOOR..." (more)
Key Phrases: Bait Katib, Burhan Efendi, Nasim Katib (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

*Starred Review* Canadian author and designer Hodgson has made the "illustrated" novel her specialty--obviously drawing on her interest and expertise in design. As in her previous novels falling into this "genre," the actual format is significant. Her works have a scrapbook nature to them, with the texts augmented by photographs, clippings, drawings, maps, floor plans, receipts, and pressed flowers, all on heavy, high-quality paper. This time Hodgson has invented a mysterious, mesmerizing tale about a young British man who, in 1914, ventures on a latter-day version of the eighteenth- and nineteenth-century Grand Tour and finds the Middle East so fascinating that he is compelled, almost at the expense of free will, to buy a certain house in Damascus, Syria. The novel's conceit is that in the "present" day--which is 1945--this man, of course now much older, is forced to prove his ownership rights of the house that has come to be not only his shelter and sanctuary but also his lifeblood. His way of documenting ownership is to set down, in notebooks, details of his long association with the house he loves above all things. The sheer physical beauty of Hodgson's novel--so delicious is it to simply study the abundant and authentic illustrations--is buoyed by the beautifully sculpted prose. Grounded in real place and time and even architectural detail, the novel nevertheless soars as a dreamy, even ghostly, evocation of lost worlds and people--as an exquisite excursion back into history, borne on the author's keen imagination and creativity. Brad Hooper
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review

"'The Lives of Shadows' will delight Hodgson's many longtime fans--and deserves to attract just as many new ones." -- The Virginian-Pilot

"Barbara Hodgson is a fine writer and an edge-of-your-seat storyteller." -- Toronto Globe & Mail, April 10, 2004

"This fictional guidebook is an exotic tour, part mystery, part ghost story." -- USA Today Summer Reading Selection

Canadian author and designer Hodgson has made the "illustrated" novel her specialty--obviously drawing on her interest and expertise in design. As in her previous novels falling into this "genre," the actual format is significant. Her works have a scrapbook nature to them, with the texts augmented by photographs, clippings, drawings, maps, floor plans, receipts, and pressed flowers, all on heavy, high-quality paper. This time Hodgson has invented a mysterious, mesmerizing tale about a young British man who, in 1914, ventures on a latter-day version of the eighteenth- and nineteenth-century Grand Tour and finds the Middle East so fascinating that he is compelled, almost at the expense of free will, to buy a certain house in Damascus, Syria. The novel's conceit is that in the "present" day--which is 1945--this man, of course now much older, is forced to prove his ownership rights of the house that has come to not only be not only his shelter and sanctuary but also his lifeblood. His way of documenting ownership is to set down, in notebooks, details of his long association with the house he loves above all things. The sheer physical beauty of Hodgson's novel--so delicious is it to simply study the abundant and authentic illustrations--is buoyed by the beautifully sculpted prose. Grounded in real place and time and even architectural detail, the novel nevertheless soars as a dreamy, even ghostly, evocation of lost worlds and people--as an exquisite excursion back into history, borne on the author's keen imagination and creativity. -Booklist, starred review

Smoke and mirrors, magic realism, Alice through the looking glass, page-turning intrigue and extremely readable prose are all wrapped up in a beautifully illustrated and designed package. The Lives of Shadows is the latest offering from Barbara Hodgson, a Vancouver writer with such an admirable combination of skills that it's a wonder she isn't among the most acclaimed Canadian writers.

Set in Damascus between 1914 and 1945, The Lives of Shadows tells the story of Julian Beaufort, a young man who leaves England in his youth to travel through the Middle East, where he finds and falls in love with Bait Katib, an ancient house with its history written on its walls. The owners, an older couple and their soon-to-be-wed daughter, take him in, treat him like a son and eventually turn the house over to him. He has pledged to continue writing the life of the house on the wall.

Delayed by the war at home in England, Julian cannot reclaim Bait Katib until almost 10 years after he first laid eyes on it. It lives in his memory and grows in his imagination until he returns to Damascus in the aftermath of civil war, only to find his benefactors dead and their daughter missing.

Readers of Hodgson's previous books, The Sensualist, Hippolyte's Island and The Tattooed Map, will recognize what happens next as her trademark mix of the real and the fantastical. Hodgson is an avid traveller, and much of what she has discovered makes it into her work. Her intricate and elegant illustrations ground the real story elements and make the otherworldly ones all the more intriguing.

After 20 years of basically hermetic living inside his beloved Bait Katib, Julian discovers that relatives of the original homeowners are attempting to claim the house. Unable to find the bill of sale, Julian spends four nights at his study writing down the history of his ownership in order to verify it. All the while, he feels a strange presence around him. Lurking in the shadows of the labyrinthine house is Asilah, the missing daughter about whom Julian has obsessed during his stay in Damascus. Each night, after he has drifted to sleep, worn from the effort of writing and remembering, she slips into his study chair and writes her version of the story at the back of his notebook, slipping roses and jasmine between the pages. It isn't until his English words on the page drift into hers in Arabic that he has a glimmer that the presence he has felt all these years is in fact a living one. But is it?

Slowly, almost inexplicably, through shadowy near-meetings, Julian and Asilah fall in love.

"I can't recall her speaking voice," Julian writes, "nor if the few words we exchanged were French or English. When we shook hands was her hand warm or cold? What did she smell of? Roses? Amber? Did her dress rustle like watered silk? If I could have held her, how would she have felt in my arms?"

Barbara Hodgson is a fine writer and an edge-of-your-seat storyteller. This, combined with her accomplished artistic talent and instinct about just exactly how to marry the two, results in books that should be on everyone's shelf, and more than one award short list. - Toronto Globe & Mail

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 192 pages
• Publisher: Chronicle Books (June 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0811839265
• ISBN-13: 978-0811839266
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 6.1 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #530,056 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars "He senses something special beyond what he sees.", May 7, 2004

By	Mary Whipple (New England) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)

Unusual in its combination of story and illustration, Hodgson's latest novel, set in Damascus, is a ghost story for believers in magic, lost palaces, and the felicitous communion of two spirits. But it is not "just" a romance. In fact, the narrative moves along so precisely and with such unadorned language that it is as much a day-by-day journal of the restoration of an ancient house, which is at the heart of the action, as it is the story of a ghostly love.

Julian Beaufort, a young Briton on a 1914 graduation tour of the Middle East, falls in love with an old house in Damascus, once part of a large complex, and succeeds in buying it from the family which has occupied it for 210 years. World War I and a civil war in Syria delay his return to Syria until 1926, and when he finally gets back, he discovers that his house is the only one in the neighborhood to have survived the bombings and subsequent fires in Damascus.

Aided by the maid of the former owner, a porter he meets at the railroad station, and his Arabic teacher, he begins the restoration of the house to its former grandeur, a project which takes twenty years. The architectural drawings of various rooms and wings, and the sketches of details he plans to restore seem to grow larger and more vibrant while he is asleep, however, and we discover that Asilah, the missing daughter of the former owner, is "helping" with them from her hiding place, connecting psychically with Julian.

Hodgson, who is also an artist, has filled the novel with old newspaper photographs and stories, snapshots of Damascus, family portraits, Arabic writing, pressed flowers, transparencies, maps, close-ups of architectural detail, sketches, and even Julian's to-do lists. The reader does not need to "suspend disbelief" here because this detritus from Julian's daily life "proves" his existence. Asilah, and the palace which she explores and describes to us, may or may not exist, but we are willing to accept her existence at face value because we "know" that Julian exists. Fun to read, with illustrations which will fascinate even those who are not art historians, this novel is a welcome change of pace, a delightful and beautiful book satisfying on several levels. The abrupt ending, designed to surprise, is not really unexpected, but that is a small quibble for a book that is so visually pleasing, a rare picture book for adults. Mary Whipple

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A subtle ghost story , August 9, 2004

By	T. Powell "fastballbooks" (Louisville, KY United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This was my first attempt at reading one of Hodgson's books. I've seen her other books and picked them up several times but have never taken the plunge. I did this time and was extremely pleased. I suppose it was the combination of subject matter -- a house that inspires loyalty and love -- along with the intriguing illustrations that prompted me to read this book. The story is interesting and well done. Julian is well-drawn. He doesn't want to admit his shell shock and unwillingness to confront the world after his war experience but does so indirectly through his focus on the house. All of the characters are interesting and the slow revelation of "ghosthood" is interesting and subtle. Hodgson's emphasis is not on the ghastly but on the bittersweet aspects of ghost stories. I recommend this book to all who like a different kind of ghost story and enjoy a solid writing style.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful & Ethereal Novel, December 15, 2004

By	YankeeChick "Yankee" (Wisconsin) - See all my reviews

I was immediately impressed by the quality of this book--the thick paper, beautiful illustrations, and wonderful articles & pictures from the era in which the story is set. This is a beautifully told tale about a young man who finds his spiritual home in the Middle East and about his life there until the relatives of the family that sold it to him decide to fight to get it back. There is an element of mystery, romance and in the background is the fear that he will be ejected from the home that has become an extension of his own mind. I couldn't put it down!