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    Mockingbird
    Unavailable
    Mockingbird
    Unavailable
    Mockingbird
    Ebook294 pages3 hours

    Mockingbird

    By Sean Stewart

    4/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this ebook

    "Stephen King meets Ibsen. Trust me."
    —Neal Stephenson

    "Witty, wicked, and wise. Wonderful!"
    —Karen Joy Fowler, The Jane Austen Book Club

    "A wonderfully vivid and unexpected blend of magic realism and finely-observed contemporary experience."
    —William Gibson

    Elena Beauchamp used magic the way other people used credit cards, and now that she's dead, her daughters Toni and Candy have a debt to pay. Set in modern-day Houston, Texas, this is a funny and moving novel of voodoo, pregnancy, and family ties. While Toni sorts out the mess that Elena left behind, she must also come to terms with her childhood and with the supernatural and dangerous gift that she has inherited from her mother.

    —With a new Afterword by the author.
    — A New York Times Notable Book.
    — World Fantasy and Nebula Award Finalist 

    Reviews

    "Hands down the best novel I have read in 2005, and one of the best I've ever had the privilege to read."
    —Park Road Books, Charlotte, NC

    "The story of a young woman who grudgingly inherits her mother's psychic powers. This book reads like a shot of whiskey—sweet, fiery swirls in the throat that linger on."
    —Mary-Jo, Powells.com

    "One of the most enjoyable books of the year."
    —San Francisco Chronicle

    "Earthily charming and hilarious."
    —Booklist

    "Humor and a Southern sauciness. . . . [Stewart's] poignant take on voodoo among middle-class women makes for delicious fun."
    —Publishers Weekly

    "A gentle, funny, affirming novel. . . . Stewart writes beautifully and affectionately about this family and their acquaintances, friends, and business partners. Like a poet with a cattle prod, he crafts his phrasing carefully, then rocks the reader back on his heels with an insight or an insult."
    —San Diego Union-Tribune

    "Stewart's best, most perfectly balanced novel yet. . . . a small masterpiece. Stewart's control of tone is nothing short of brilliant; Toni's no-nonsense Texas narrative voice immediately disarms us with its tall-tale overtones and its authentic (and genuinely funny) humor. . . . A work of genuine brilliance."
    —Locus

    Sean Stewart is the author of the "I Love Bees" and "Beast" search operas, two short stories and seven novels: Perfect Circle, The Night Watch, Nobody's Son, Clouds End, Passion Play, Resurrection Man, and Galveston. With Jordan Weisman, he is the author of Cathy's Book and Cathy's Key. His novels have received the Aurora, Arthur Ellis, Sunburst, Canadian Library, and World Fantasy awards. He lives in Davis, CA, with his wife and two daughters.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherSmall Beer Press
    Release dateSep 1, 2005
    ISBN9781618730046
    Unavailable
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    Reviews for Mockingbird

    4/5

    86 ratings4 reviews

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    • 4/5
      "Mockingbird" was an interesting read. It follows the life of Toni, a 30 year old who's mother has just died, and tells of the legacy she inherits from her mother. Her mother had been that was possessed by several different gods, at different point in time, and she passes on this "gift" to her daughter.The story is full of emotion. Often there is anger, confusion, and even desperation. I thought it was very interesting the way the author wove the threads of the past in with what was currently happening in the story, and the growth in the characters over the course of the book was interesting as well.
    • 5/5
      I read this book for one of my bookgroups--it's very interesting the skeptical reaction i had to a man writing in a female voice--i never seem to have that reaction to a woman writing in a male voice--reverse sexism? Anyway Sean Stewart totally pulled it off and i loved this book.
    • 3/5
      I read this during my bookstore excursion last night... I started reading it to decide whether I wanted to buy it or not, but after 30 pages the story wasn't moving as quickly as I liked but there were a few intriguing bits I wanted to know more about.So I sat in the nearest chair, and proceeded to read the book in the store from cover to cover. Granted, I speed-read a few parts, but I don't think I missed much, because long-story-short, I'm glad I didn't spend the $5 on it. I don't feel the time reading was wasted, but I just don't think I would recommend it to anyone.The most unfortunate part of the story is that the best character -- the mother of a pair of sisters -- is gone when the book opens. We get glimpses of her through memories of the main character, but overall, she's the best character of the whole book. And she's dead. Well, that's too bad.The main character is "gifted" her mother's magic, which mainly consists of Riders who take over one's body for a period of time... like multiple personality disorder, but with fetishes and called magic.Why is this happening? Well, we're told the mother is a witch of sorts, so her magic costs something... and each Rider is the price of the magic. When the mother dies, not all of her "magic debts" have been paid, and she passes the Riders on to one of her daughters.If this is all sounding very cheesy, it wasn't that bad, and done rather well in the first third of the book. The problem is, the rest of the book becomes a random mish-mash of family drama, author promises that aren't kept, and strange resolutions. And not in a "this is a quirky little volume, eh?" kind of way. More in a "...say what?" way.We don't get resolution on the Riders. In fact, they just go away once the main character has a baby. By artificial insemination. Without a partner. She does it "just because", without any forethought. Then two thirds of the way through the novel, the main character's sister pulls out a bunch of porn magazines and demands her sister to tell her whether she's turned on by images of sexual violence "because she might be a repressed lesbian." Which she isn't, so what was the whole point of that scene?!?!Yeah... that's when I started skimming. Also, the store was going to close in 15m and I had a difference purchase to make, so I wanted to finish it regardless. In the end, I was disappointed that such an intriguing beginning didn't deliver in the end. I felt that it delved too far into family drama after building the book up as focusing on magical realism (the first 30 pages strongly suggest it will be a large part of the book), rather than incorporate the two together. Honestly, the main character only gets fully possessed by Riders twice. Twice!!! After all that buildup! And then, POOF, they're gone.Argh. I'd give the author another shot, but those first 30 pages had better be brilliant.
    • 5/5
      The premise: ganked from the publisher: Sometimes you have to go back home.Elena Beauchamp used magic the way other people used credit cards, and now that she’s dead, her daughters Toni and Candy have a debt to pay. Set in modern-day Houston, Texas, this is a funny and moving novel of voodoo, pregnancy, and family ties. While Toni sorts out the mess that Elena left behind, she must also come to terms with her childhood and with the supernatural and dangerous gift that she has inherited from her mother. Mockingbird: A novel of voodoo, pregnancy, and Houston.My Rating: Couldn't Put It DownI loved this so much that I promptly ordered two more Sean Stewart books off of Paperback Swap before remembering that I have a monthly cap on the number of books I can get in a month! Oooops… old habits, they die hard. Oh well, it'll be well worth it, though I suspect I will space the reading of those books out so as to not glut myself entirely on his fiction. Be that as it may, this book had me from the first page, and it's what I crave from so much small-town and/or Appalachian fiction that I simply don't get. Not that Mockingbird is in any way small town or Appalachian fiction: it's set in Houston, Texas, for goodness' sakes! But what this book does: fuse character, setting, and place in such a way to create a unique atmosphere is what I want and crave from those aforementioned styles of fiction, but that I never quite seem to get. Toni was a character I immediately related to, and her rather magical-realist journey is one I can see myself reading again and again. This was very, very close to getting the top rating of "My Precious," and only a few things held me back from awarding it said top rating. But no matter. It's rare that a book other than a YA or other serial book gets the "couldn't put it down" rating, but when it does, you know just how damn happy I am with it.Spoilers, yay or nay?: Vague-ish spoilers, because this is the kind of book you really don't spoil, you know? The full review is in my blog, which I've linked to below, and as always, comments and discussion are most welcome!REVIEW: Sean Stewart's MOCKINGBIRDHappy Reading!