Morning Star Best Books of 2019
2019 Locus Recommending Reading List
Strange Horizons Best Books of the Year
“An absorbing fantasy about the power of art, family secrets—and obsession. Ivy and her sisters have a secret. Their Great-Aunt Maeve is actually the reclusive author Adela Madden, who wrote Ivory Apples, a book that still, many years after publication, inspires a steady stream of fan mail. And some of those fans can be obsessive. That secret only becomes more urgent for Ivy when, wandering in the woods at Maeve's house, she stumbles upon a secret grove full of sprites, one of whom steps into her. So when a woman named Kate Burden strikes up a friendship with the girls and starts insinuating herself into their lives—and talking about how much she loves Ivory Apples—Ivy is immediately suspicious. But Kate's intentions are far more sinister than even Ivy suspects, and Piper, the sprite living inside her, is too much an agent of chaos to help. Soon Ivy and her sisters are plunged into a nightmare, and the cost of keeping Maeve's secret proves to be greater than they could have imagined. Goldstein (Weighing Shadows, 2015, etc.) has crafted a dark, suspenseful tale in which the power of the faery world is appealingly disruptive and dangerous. The dreamlike quality of portions of the book sometimes works to undercut the impact of genuinely traumatic events, but overall the story is gripping and unusual enough to keep the reader invested. This dark, eerie tale about the lengths people will go for a taste of magic will keep readers guessing until the end.”
—Kirkus
“Ivory Apples is a haunting story of what a classic fantasy work can do for and to its readers and its creator; on the other, it’s a pretty wonderful, clear-eyed, and unsentimental fantasy novel entirely on its own terms.”
—Locus
“As a heroine, Ivy is strong and stubborn in the face of adversary and shines through with wit and resilience, coming of age in the most difficult of circumstances and suddenly finding herself responsible for a young family while fleeing for her life and sanity. She shows intelligence and resourcefulness beyond her young years and is a heroine of the time.”
—British Fantasy Society
“Ivory Apples is a legendary fantasy novel of the great-nieces of their Great-Aunt Adela, almost as celebrated and mysterious as the book itself, and the charming superfan Kate Burden—a sort of wicked Mary Poppins on the dogged hunt for hidden magic But magic has always its own desires, far beyond any fan's dream.”
—Peter S. Beagle, author of The Last Unicorn and Summerlong.
“Neil Gaiman hasn't written anything half as good as Ivory Apples . . . If you enjoyed books such as The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang, Deathless by Catherynne M. Valente, or War for the Oaks by Emma Bull, you'll love Ivory Apples.”
—Little Red Reviewer
“It’s great, I loved it, you will also love it.”
—Tor.com
“Ivory Apples is a haunting story of what a classic fantasy work can do for and to its readers and its creator; on the other, it’s a pretty wonderful, clear-eyed, and unsentimental fantasy novel entirely on its own terms, muse or no muse.”
—Gary K. Wolfe, Locus
“Ivory Apples is like a set of Russian Matryoshka dolls: stories within stories within stories within stories that keep you reading all the way to the bottom. I finished in eight hours and now want to read it again. What a charming book in all senses of the word.”
—Jane Yolen, author of The Emerald Circus
“A contemporary fantasy that is wholly original. I want to read it again and again.”
—Ellen Klages, World Fantasy Award-winning author of Passing Strange
“A powerful fairy tale set without compromise in the modern world—the characters are convincingly real, and the magic is genuinely enchanting and perilous.”
—Tim Powers, author of Alternate Routes and Down and Out in Purgatory
“Lisa Goldstein’s work invariably surprises and inspires me. Ivory Apples is no exception. A vivid tale of magic and its consequences, filled with beauty and terror. Would you like a muse of your own? Really? Be careful what you wish for.”
—Pat Murphy, author of The Wild Girls
“A fine, swift, effervescent fantasy.”
—John Crowley, author of Ka and Little, Big
“So many contemporary fantasists have learned from Lisa Goldstein’s weird, wise, humane and graceful example; her books comprise the best sort of magic school. Now, in Ivory Apples, she leads us deep into a wondrous grove that only she could scry. Goldstein is a true enchanter.”
—Andy Duncan, author of An Agent of Utopia
“Lisa Goldstein is writing some of the most exciting fantasy out there. Ivory Apples is terrific.”
—Jo Walton, author of Among Others and Lent
“[T]his is a strong entry into the mysterious magical book genre.”
—Wordnerdy
“Lisa Goldstein’s glimpse into the dark secrets of creativity casts a lingering spell on the reader that no counter-spell can completely dispel.”
—Bookshine and Readbows
“This is my first book by Lisa Goldstein but here is an author that definitely needs to go on my auto buy list. I don’t know what it is but here is an author that can make a book feel personal. Like this book was written for me. It was, I swear it was. The writing is really lovely, hypnotic almost.”
—Lynn’s Book Blog
“Lisa Goldstein has created a masterpiece of fantasy and reality.”
—The Lovely Librarian
“Immersive, erudite and unsettling.”
—Morning Star
Praise for Lisa Goldstein
“She has given us the kind of magic and adventure that once upon a time made us look for secret panels in the halls of wardrobes or brush our teeth with a book held in front of our eyes, because we couldn’t bear to put it down.”
—The New Yorker
“Lisa Goldstein is the perfect, born storyteller. Her story pulls you in and wraps you round, and it is hard to think of anything else until it is over.”
—Diana Wynne Jones
“Lisa Goldstein’s work deserves to be celebrated along with that of Alice Walker and Shirley Jackson.”
—Lucius Shepard
“[Goldstein] never writes the same type of story twice, and she never disappoints.”
—Mark Graham, Denver Rocky Mountain News
Praise for The Uncertain Places
“Goldstein’s complex and ingenious plot transplants the forest realm of European folktale, where witches grant wishes with strings attached and you’d better be careful which frog you kiss, into the sun-drenched hills of Northern California in the 1970, and beyond.”
—Ursula K. Le Guin
“An exquisitely beautiful, eerily compelling modern fairy tale.”
—Library Journal, starred review
“Exemplary . . . Goldstein is one of fantasy’s most reliable practitioners, and a new novel from her is always a cause for celebration.”
—San Francisco Chronicle
“The Uncertain Places continued to surprise me at every page and, as a writer, filled me with raw, disgraceful envy: Boy I wish I’d thought of this one.”
—Peter S. Beagle, author of The Last Unicorn and Summmerlong
“Lisa Goldstein is back and at the top of her game.”
—Shelf Awareness
“The arrival of a new Goldstein fantasy is a major cause for rejoicing. And The Uncertain Places does not disappoint.”
—Charlie Jane Anders, io9
“Combines all the things that I like best about Goldstein’s work: great, believable characters; a well-defined setting (this time it’s 1970s Berkeley); and subtle magic that plays by the rules.”
—Charles de Lint, Fantasy and Science Fiction
“A gripping story that twists with compelling dream logic; Goldstein’s fairy-tale family radiate believable unreality, and the faerie realm contained herein evinces the perfect mix of terror and attraction.”
—Cory Doctorow
2019-07-15
An absorbing fantasy about the power of art, family secrets—and obsession.
Ivy and her sisters have a secret. Their Great-Aunt Maeve is actually the reclusive author Adela Madden, who wrote Ivory Apples, a book that still, many years after publication, inspires a steady stream of fan mail. And some of those fans can be obsessive. That secret only becomes more urgent for Ivy when, wandering in the woods at Maeve's house, she stumbles upon a secret grove full of sprites, one of whom steps into her. So when a woman named Kate Burden strikes up a friendship with the girls and starts insinuating herself into their lives—and talking about how much she loves Ivory Apples—Ivy is immediately suspicious. But Kate's intentions are far more sinister than even Ivy suspects, and Piper, the sprite living inside her, is too much an agent of chaos to help. Soon Ivy and her sisters are plunged into a nightmare, and the cost of keeping Maeve's secret proves to be greater than they could have imagined. Goldstein (Weighing Shadows, 2015, etc.) has crafted a dark, suspenseful tale in which the power of the faery world is appealingly disruptive and dangerous. The dreamlike quality of portions of the book sometimes works to undercut the impact of genuinely traumatic events, but overall the story is gripping and unusual enough to keep the reader invested.
This dark, eerie tale about the lengths people will go for a taste of magic will keep readers guessing until the end.
10/01/2019
Goldstein's first novel in a few years (Weighing Shadows) is a contemporary fairy tale of magic, muses, and shadowy figures. Ivy and her three sisters have been told, since they were old enough to understand, that they must never talk about their Great-Aunt Maeve. Though they visit her once a month with their widowed father, they can never talk about those trips or reveal that Maeve is the author of a classic fantasy novel, Ivory Apples, because of its cultish following of rabid fans. That instilled wariness is enough to make Ivy suspicious of Kate Burden, a woman who makes friends with her younger sisters and insinuates herself into the household. When tragedy befalls the family, Kate has a firm grip on all of their lives and Ivy has to do battle to protect Maeve and her sisters. VERDICT The cheery red cover belies the dark, sometimes bleak story contained within. While the writing is beautiful, the story is uneven and told in fits and starts. For true fans of the author.—Jane Jorgenson, Madison P.L., WI
