RECENTLY I finished a really unusual book.

Fowler’s book was special for many reasons. Not only was it written in an unusual style, but it was also a good story. The Chicago Tribune calls it a “work of art,” probably because of the author’s unique writing style. I had read Fowler before as the author of The Jane Austin Book Club, but this book is entirely different–very different. Words like “humor and horror,” and “dark, and deep, and fun” have been used by critics to describe this novel. The San Francisco Chronicle calls it “a playful romp through the Pacific Northwest.

Most of the chapters have a quote from Emily Dickinson’s poetry at the top, followed by a catalogue of the events of the time. Chin, a Chinese cook at an insane asylum, aided by B.J., a slow but often profound “trusty” who is an inmate and an employee, meet up with Sarah Canary aka “The Wild Woman of Alaska” aka Lydia. Sarah communicates with a series of grunts and squeals and is being exploited by a P.T. Barnum type known as Harold. Enter Miss Adelaide Dixon, a woman’s rights lecturer who tries to “save” Sarah from all of the men. A Great Chase ensues, where these major characters meet many quirky, strange minor characters along their way. The two women are surrounded by rowdy, drunken men several times, escaping through a window or through a persuasive speech.

The novel was definitely one-of-a-kind and a challenge to read, but definitely worth it!