Book Review: Rouge by Mona Awad (horror)

"No one knows what's inside grief." (p. 361)

 

Born to an Egyptian father and a French-Canadian mother Mirabelle Nour was raised in Quebec, Canada. At fourteen, she joined her mother in California, USA. She grew up believing that her father's dark features had made her ugly while her mother's red hair and delicate features made her mother beautiful. 

When Mirabelle's sixty-something mother Noelle Des Jardins unexpectedly dies, thirty-something Mirabelle must fly from her home in the Plateau area of Montreal to her mother's home in La Jolla, California and deal with her grief and her mother's legacy (all those many bottles and jars of beauty products).

"Mirror, mirror, on the wall/Who in this land is fairest of all"

Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, Little Snow-White

"'Beauty...is a mystery... Here one day, then poof. Gone. Smoke and mirrors.'"

Mona Awad, Rouge

Rouge

Mona Awad

(literary fiction, fantasy, horror)

Hamish Hamilton

an imprint of Penguin Canada

a division of Penguin Random House Canada

2023

369 pages

Rouge by Mona Awad is a many-layered novel.

Rouge is literary fiction...

In Rouge, Mona Awad explains women's reliance on beauty products. To gain social status, women must meet society's standards for beauty. When a woman falls short of these standards, she must hide her flaws with beauty products. To maintain social status, aging women must rely on beauty products.

Rouge is horror...

Did Noelle fall from the cliff to the beach below, or was she pushed? And if she was pushed by who and why? Did something, someone, take possession of her in those final hours? If so, is Mirabelle in danger?

Rouge has elements of magical realism...

Mysterious shiny red shoes take control of those who wear them.

Giant red jellyfish that...

Mirrors that... 

No, I have to stop. There are no spoilers in this review. 

Rouge is an attractive, captivating read--from the fairy-tale-like prologue to the enchanting last paragraph.

Reviews of other books by Mona Awad...

13 Ways of Looking at a Fat Girl

Bunny

"Autumn magic" photo by ldyck

On this Blog in October...

Book review: Super! by Jennifer Chen (MG)

Buy this book

(I received my copy from the publisher)

Publisher:  Insomniac Press

Publishing date:  2018

What's it like to have a gifted friend?
Exciting.
Fun.
Yes, but there's also the matter of jealousy. Especially when your own mother compares you to your friend and you come up lacking. Especially when everyone expects you to be gifted.
That's what twelve-year-old Beata faces--in spades. Her friend Gwen is a "polypower" super-hero and her great-grandmother was the world's first super-hero. And worse, Beata suspects that she may be a Dud-- a descendant of a super-hero, with no super-hero powers.

There's so much about this book that I like...
-the strong female and ethnically diverse characters
-the plot that has as many twists and turns as a super-hero in mid melee.

But...
-the Prologue and Epilogue could easily have been woven into chapters.
-long chapters--especially considering the target reader
-the book would benefit with one more edit as I found passages that could have been made clearer or stronger.

Two examples...

'I nod wordlessly.' (p. 116)

Can you nod with words?

'They amass around me like bees.' (p. 337)

Bees swarm.


Favourite quotes...

'"All anyone can ever ask is for you to do the best with what you have."' (p.117)

 'Before, I could only see Frances Fantastic, the Original Super. Now, I see more. Beyond the fame, she was just a girl.' (p.391)

Thank you, Jennifer Chen, for this action-packed story.  

an island friend kindly indulging me, photo by ldyck

November, on this blog, will be a month for remembrance and knitting-themed fiction.

Sunday, November 4:  Shared Passion (short story)
This piece of magical realism celebrates knitting for charities.

Sunday, November11:  I couldn't think of a better way to remember than to share (again) my dad's words--the words of a veteran from World War II.

Sunday, November 18:  The Lure of Yarn (short story)
A cautionary tale told in jest.

Sunday, November 25:  Courting (short story)
Jane Austen inspired historical romance

on Mayne Island, photo by ldyck

Sharing my author journey...

This October I...

Book Review: Son of a Trickster by Eden Robinson (magical realism)

Update: Trailer for Trickster TV show

In this article by Sue Carter written for Quill and Quire, Eden Robinson reveals that she started working on a follow-up to Blood Sports but lost interest in that project and then in writing altogether. But writing Son of a Trickster rekindled her passion for the craft. And on November 7, 2017, at the Writers' Trust of Canada's black-tie gala, Eden Robinson was awarded $50, 000. So in Son of a Trickster, you read the work of an author at the height of her game sharing what she loves.

Buy this book

Publisher:  Knopf Canada

Published in 2017

Son of a Trickster is about the effect the residential school system has on three generations. The first generation turns their back on their culture. The second generation is angry and destructive. The third generation is lost but struggles to reclaim their culture.

Son of a Trickster is...

Funny

Jared's mom and her boyfriend 'took turns firing into the trunk of one of the target trees, which quivered until it creaked, cracked, then fell over.

"Tim-ber!" they yelled together.

"Normal people buy their trees from the Boy Scouts," Jared said, "Normal people don't hunt their Christmas tree down and kill them." ' (p. 66)

Beautiful

'In the sudden silence, the trees shushed in the breeze, a thousand small whispers.' (p. 237)

At times, dark

'His tiny, tightly permed maternal grandmother, Anita Moody, had never liked him... "Wee git," she'd say if his parents left them alone. "If you hurt her, I will kill you and bury you where no one can resurrect you. Get, you dirty dog's arse."

"I'm Jared," he'd said.

"Trickster," she'd said. "You still smell like lightning."' (p. 1)

The mystery of why Jared's grandmother thinks he is a trickster is solved on page 68 when Jared's mom tells him, ' "The nuns messed her up. They made her think everything Indian was evil. And that includes you and me." '

Thank you for this haunting book, Eden Robinson. So glad that it's the first in a trilogy. (I wonder will Jared grow older or will minor characters--such as his girlfriend and his parental grandmother--have their stories expanded?)

David Stouck writing for BC BookWorld concludes his review with:  '[W]hat this novel does for the non-Indigenous reader is to make totem poles, masks, and legends come alive. This remarkable novel accordingly takes Indigenous writing to a new level.' 

More

Click this link to listen to Shelagh Rogers (Host of The Next Chapter on CBC radio) interviewing Eden Robinson about Son of a Trickster.

'Abby on a walk' by ldyck

Next post:  Sunday, December 17
at approximately 5 PM PST
Supper Guest (short story)
I try my hand at writing middle grade fiction. 

Feeling Groovy 1 of 3 (short story) by Leanne Dyck

Feeling Groovy is magic realism (also called magical realism or magical realist fiction)

Magic realism:  takes place in a world that resembles our own, except for the introduction of a magical element, which cannot be explained by the conventions of our reality.

(From the article literary terms:  magical realism, science fiction and fantasy) 

"feeling groovy" at the Mayne Island Fall Fair

photo by Leanne Dyck

Feeling Groovy

I work in the complaints department of a major telephone company. It had been an especially stressful day -- one irate customer after another. And I knew they didn't want excuses, they wanted someone to take blame.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry." It was a song I sang daily, but never more frequently than today. Even though my shift was over and I was at home, my body still trembled, my head still throbbed. I poured myself a glass of red wine and tried to relax with a paperback on the sofa in my living room. Before I could take a sip I heard something. The sound increased in volume as I descended the stairs to the laundry room. I pressed my ear against the cold, concrete wall. A guitar strummed. A cowbell ran out. Voices were singing. Hey, I know that song. That's Simon and Garfunkel's Feeling Groovy.

All of a sudden there was an odour, like a million flowers had been shoved up my nose.

A silver fog drifted up from the floor. Fog or smoke? And where there's smoke, there's...

"Fire!"

But there was no fire.

The fog turned sky blue, then spring green, then bright orange, then purple. It drifted up to the ceiling and then slowly began to clear. Blinding rays of sunlight poured out of the hole, where the wall had been. When my eyes adjusted to the bright light I saw a green meadow. A green meadow in the wall of my laundry room? How can... It can't. I need my eyes checked or my head read.

"Mara." Some one was calling my name.

I strained my eyes to the very edge of the meadow. A purple cow was munching strawberry red grass. I rubbed my eyes.

A bunny wearing a top hat hopped down the oatmeal cookie path. "Mara," he called. He stopped right in front of me and looked up. "Come on, Mara. We've been waiting for you." He wrapped his paw around my pinkie finger. Something about his touch eased my worry.

Hand-in-hand, the bunny and I skipped up the path. I saw lollipop trees and candy floss clouds. Birds sang the familiar words, "Feeling groovy." (click on this link to hear the song performed by Simon and Garfunkel)

Next post:  Sunday, September 12th (approximately 5 PM PST)
Log on next week for the continuation of Feeling Groovy--and find out where the bunny takes Mara.

Or why wait? 
"Feeling Groovy" is one of the stories in the Figure in the Mist anthology (ATLA publishing)
If you live in the United Kingdom, order here.
If you live in North America, order here.

photo by Leanne Dyck

Picture Books in Canada

Creating Children's Books

at the University of British Columbia

photo by Leanne Dyck

Sharing my author journey...

It's still summer (officially until September 22nd) but I've already started thinking about what I'd like to achieve this fall.

Mother, May I (poem) by Leanne Dyck

A short poem celebrating the continuity and power of girls and women.

Mother, May I

Mother Mary

Mother Goddess

Mother Gaia

Mother, may you

Create me, hold me, transform me

From child to mother to elder

Blessed Mother

Mother Creator

Mother Nurturer

Mother, may I

Create, hold, transform

From child to mother to elder

The divine love

The power of three