Kate Bernheimer’s newest novel contains all the madness and exoticism of fairy tales, set in a contemporary urban landscape. Enchantment is everyday, villains are everywhere, and the dark woods always lurk in one’s mind. A sequel to
The Complete Tales of Ketzia Gold , this novel follows the life of Merry Gold, the eldest and meanest of the Gold sisters, through poetry, pictures, and haunting childlike prose. Guilty about her destructive desires and longing for peace, Merry makes her way through design school and a melange of men. Throughout her bleak life as a seamstress, she returns to her family again and again, seeking solace. Merry observes her world with disarming honesty, methodically living out her days. Bernheimer conjures a troubling and beautiful setting that is representative of Merry’s inner turmoil and explosive imagination. The story moves between past and present, marking the unhurried pace with a sense of fragility.
In winter, the lesson room was freezing, and often my teeth would chatter to the rhythm of the music. I was a skinny, chattering doll in a freezer, gay piano music bouncing off the walls.
Bernheimer once again delves into the internal anguish of the Gold family and extracts a magical, carefully stitched tale of strange and happy fear.