#BlogTour – #BookReview of #Fayne by Ann-Marie MacDonald @AMMstuff @TrampPress @RichardsonHelen

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Aug 26

I'm thrilled to welcome you today to my stop on the blog tour for compelling and thought provoking saga Fayne by Ann-Marie MacDonald. Thank you to Helen Richardson and Tramp Press for giving me the opportunity to read and review this beautifully written book.

About the book:

'I knew from a very young age that I was wrong in the world. And the idea of looking through the eyes of somebody who's born with an intersex trait has been quite compelling to me for a very long time. It's not an exotic quality. That's why I've decided not to treat it as a "spoiler". That's just who Charlotte is, that's her body. That's normal. It's the world that has a problem and is going to make it a problem for her'

ANN-MARIE MACDONALD

In the late nineteenth century, Charlotte Bell is growing up at Fayne, a vast and lonely estate straddling the border between England and Scotland, where she has been kept from the world by her adoring father, Lord Henry Bell, owing to a mysterious 'condition'.

Charlotte, strong and insatiably curious, revels in the moorlands, and has learned the treacherous and healing ways of the bog from the old hired man, Byrn, whose own origins are shrouded in mystery. Her idyllic existence is shadowed by the magnificent portrait on the landing in Fayne House which depicts her mother, a beautiful Irish-American heiress, holding Charlotte's brother, Charles Bell. Charlotte has grown up with the knowledge that her mother died in giving birth to her, and that her older brother, Charles, the long-awaited heir, died at the age of two.

When Charlotte's appetite for learning threatens to exceed the bounds of the estate, her father breaks with tradition and hires a tutor to teach his daughter 'as you would my son, had I one'.

But when Charlotte and her tutor's explorations of the bog turn up an unexpected artefact, her father announces he has arranged for her to be cured of her condition, and her world is upended.

Charlotte's passion for knowledge and adventure will take her to the bottom of family secrets and to the heart of her own identity.

In Fayne we meet an irresistible young queer character whose curiosity and joy collide with the frustratingly arbitrary gender dichotomies in the world. Even with all her gifts – intelligence, wit and strength of character – can Charlotte overcome the violently enforced boundaries of society to claim her own place in the world?

About the author:

ANN-MARIE MACDONALD is a novelist, playwright, actor, and broadcast host. She was born in the former West Germany. After graduating from the National Theatre School of Canada in Montreal, she moved to Toronto where she distinguished herself as an actor and playwright.

Her first play won the Governor General's Award, the Chalmers Award and the Canadian Authors' Association Award. In 1996, her first novel Fall on Your Knees became an international bestseller, was translated into nineteen languages and sold three million copies. It won the Commonwealth Prize for Best First Fiction, the People's Choice Award and the Libris Award. In 2002, it became an Oprah's Book Club title. In 2003, The Way the Crow Flies appeared, and in 2014, Adult Onset, both of which also enjoyed immense international success.

In 2019 Ann-Marie MacDonald was made an Officer of the Order of Canada for her contribution to the arts and her LGBTQ2S+ activism. She is married to theatre director, Alisa Palmer, with whom she has two children.

My Review:

Fayne by Ann-Marie MacDonald is what I would call a slow burn of a novel. Beautifully written and atmospheric, Fayne is a complex historical tale of identity and family secrets. At over 700 pages long it's a weighty tome that I have to admit does take a while to get into, but once I did I couldn't help but be drawn into the world of Charlotte and the secrets that surround her.

A thought provoking and unsettling read, Fayne is Charlotte's story that is set on the vast and lonely estate of Fayne. Kept away from the world by her father, Lord Henry Bell, due to a mystery 'condition', Charlotte leads a rather solitary existence. With an insatiable appetite for learning, she soon outgrows the teachings of Byrn, an old hired hand who is shrouded in a mystery of his own.

So Lord Henry hires a tutor to teach Charlotte, which soon leads to the unearthing of an unexpected artefact that prompts her father to announce that he's arranged for her to be cured. With everything she knows turned on its head, Charlotte begins to discover her own identity in a world that does not accept her for who she is. Is it possible for Charlotte to overcome the enforced Victorian values of the time in which she lives to claim her own place in the world?

Ann-Marie MacDonald's writing is powerful as shocking twists and turns reveal a story of heartbreak and hidden secrets. I don't want to say too much more for fear of spoiling what is a cleverly plotted, complex and sometimes uncomfortable read, so all I will say is that Fayne is an atmospheric and thought provoking saga that introduces an irresistible character who I couldn't help but fall in love with.

Although maybe a little bit too long and overly descriptive in places, Fayne is still a fantastic read and is a book that I wouldn't hesitate to recommend.

Fayne by Ann-Marie MacDonald is available to purchase now: