ANGELICA

I just finished reading Angelica by Arthur Phillips. If you love traditionally wrought fiction loaded with conflicts and final resolutions, so that the fate of all the characters is revealed by the end of the story, forget this novel. Angelica has been described as a cross between Rashomon and The Turning of The Screw. It is a story told by an initially unrevealed narrator. There are four segments to the novel; actually four novels within a novel. We read the first character's reality and we are left with certain, fairly fixed perspectives. Then we move on to the other three points of view, and we are suddenly never too sure of what is real, what is imagined, who's "right," who the villain is, whose narration is closer to the truth, if indeed the truth can ever be learned. So if you can't deal with irresolution, then don't even start this book.
But as a literary novel it certainly pleases. There are so many issues examined in this setting of Victorian society, from vivisection to male and female sexual roles, to spiritualism, to mystery, to science vs. the metaphysical that there is never a loss of interest. Occasionally the narration bogs down, particularly if you soon realize that it is headed toward a dead end of not knowing what's what. But the speculation more than makes up for the certainties we may seek. In fact, this is a novel that should be read twice, so that you can examine each point of view with a keener eye, so that you can decide on your take of events and find the narrative clues to support it. I'm not sure if the author has made it possible to do this with any certainty. But, that's exactly what he intended!