Matt McAvoy Book Review

A short yet punchy, wonderfully creative gem, I have to say this short medieval fantasy fable by H&S Alvaurence really did exceed expectations.  What’s more, I read it in just an hour or two – so you’ve no excuse not to!  I admit to not knowing anything about the story, other than to expect a fine, classically written tale with a touch of humour.  I was partly right: it is exquisitely written, in a style so quintessential I was genuinely surprised to find that the author is actually from the US; the diction is as fine as any old English prose, which I believe is just the style she was intending.  What I wasn’t quite correct about though was expecting there to be a tongue-in-cheek element: it is actually rather quite sombre at times, even disturbing in moments, as its main antagonist takes great delight in torture and incarceration.  It is fair to say that The Absurd Burden of Family surprised on every level – and that is fantastic for it.

I call it a fable because it certainly has cautionary themes, exactly as the tagline suggests.  However, I would say that there are multiple, from being a caring parent to appreciating what you have, the perils of revenge, the expectations of love and, most notably, the absolute burden of unconditional duty to family.  There are also wider metaphorical issues, such as division of brother against brother (literally in this case), perceived superiority over others and the persecution/subordination of difference.  In fact, I would go as far as to say that the lessons imparted by this book are too numerous to list off the top of my head.  The behaviour of Lady Gastrell certainly gives the reader and the characters a great deal to think about, as she commits pretty much every abuse of hierarchy there is.  But this book does not preach or sermonize, and I definitely don’t want to give the impression that it does; the fact that many of the narrative observations can be applied to contemporary society is, I believe, incidental.  There are too many books nowadays, I think, which use their narrative, regardless of genre, as a vehicle to lay out an analogical indictment of modern-day issues – thankfully, this is not one of them.  Rather, this book succeeds superbly at simply entertaining, with a compelling, very human and at times hard-hitting fantasy story.  I would go further and say some of the social issues it addresses may be more relatable to readers a hundred years past, when divisions of class, race and status were becoming big topics in literature.

Most of all, it is good, entertaining fun, and I would recommend it to anyone, whether your tastes are Lewis Carroll, J.M. Barrie or even Oscar Wilde; this is an unimposing novella which is definitely worth a couple of hours of indulgence.