[A] refreshingly idiosyncratic novel that manages to wear its seriousness lightly without ever losing sight of its significance ... Jones plays with language — as much as character and plot — to illustrate the restorative nature of imagination ... Jones reveals herself one of our most important American novelists.
Almost every detail is freighted with double meaning. And like much of Jones’s work, The Unicorn Woman also toys with time, dreams and memory, which crash into the narrative. I found it all sophisticated, rich, insightful — and frustratingly measured ... An exercise in restraint ... This novel doesn’t feel as alive as her previous books. The Unicorn Woman is smart, and immaculately constructed, but compared with the other titles in Jones’s catalog, this one feels minor, secondary.
Captures this sense of disconnection and disillusionment in the context of the African American veteran experience ... The novel’s biggest asset is its strong narrative voice.
Jones is skilled at balancing the observational with the intimate, and in Buddy we are given a fully realized character who epitomizes the frustrations, heartbreak, and humor of a generation of Black Americans.
Despite a promising timeframe and glimpses of what could have been fascinating characters, this novel follows only Buddy, who is just a shadow, staying outside of all aspects of life ... Jones... rambles somewhat aimlessly, like Buddy, offering a character that should have been more compelling and a story that plods along.
Jones weaves a captivating tapestry of African American life in the 1940s ... Even when she dials down the intensity, Jones is capable of quiet astonishment.
Sometimes glimmering but mostly plodding ... The core theme of the Unicorn Woman’s mystery and allure is enticing, but Buddy’s obsessive gaze tends to wear on the reader as the woman's own story remains underdeveloped. Still, Jones’s rich characterizations and wit are on display elsewhere.
