MixedSan Francisco ChronicleFreed from the realistic settings of his first two novels, deWitt romps in a world of cannonball warfare, ballroom orgies and Very Large Holes in the ground that lead to utter darkness, with new drama and danger every step of the way. Madcap dialogue unfolds like a fencing match, acts of cruelty are dovetailed by tenderness, and backstories of murder, revenge and lost love are nested within Lucy’s quest, giving the world texture while amplifying the story’s themes of love and longing.
One of deWitt’s great strengths is to breathe life into characters with just a few quick strokes; yet in a story with dozens of characters, only a few are onstage long enough to gain much emotional weight. While The Sisters Brothers also brimmed with new characters at every turn, the first-person narration of that picaresque gave readers deep access to the surprisingly tender heart of a violent assassin. In this novel, the folkloric voice keeps readers at arm’s length, and like the Castle Von Aux itself, the emotional landscape can feel 'somehow too sheer, too beautiful.'
