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molassesbread's review
2.5
A mediocre book that teeters in the precipice of "okay", but the moments you think it's about to go over the edge, it subsides back into the confused rocking of a book that has a dead-weight on its left side. That side is Temerity West. A thorough waste of an intriguing character, the B-Side of Constant Nobody could be a compelling examination on the frustration of denied female agency, but it is not.
The most interesting part of this book is one paragraph on page 348. I spent an entire essay trying to understand this paragraph, and I still have no idea why Butler-Hallett wrote this captivating piece of character analysis and chose not expand on it. Still, a great paragraph.
The most interesting part of this book is one paragraph on page 348. I spent an entire essay trying to understand this paragraph, and I still have no idea why Butler-Hallett wrote this captivating piece of character analysis and chose not expand on it. Still, a great paragraph.
menschmaschine's review
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
the_original_shelf_monkey's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
bonnielendrum's review
5.0
Constant Nobody – A Tale of Espionage and Love
There are books in my library that I have reread several times since their first publication. Among them are Timothy Findleys’s Famous Last Words and Pilgrim, Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale, Alistair Macleod’s And Birds Call Forth The Sun and The Lost Salt Gift of Blood and Carol Shields’ Unless. But until Michelle Butler Hallett’s Constant Nobody, I have never reread the same book within a month. It was even better the second time around.
Constant Nobody transports the reader to Moscow, Russia, in 1937. It is an immersive sensory experience. There were moments when it felt like I was in the front row of an intimate theatrical performance. I’d catch a whiff of perfume, feel my heart race as characters were awakened by knocks on doors, shiver when the shower water in a Moscow apartment switched from lukewarm to ice-cold, or breathe a sigh of relief after an injection of morphine dulled intractable pain.
Constant Nobody is a love story caught up in the espionage intrigue of Moscow, 1937. And as I write that sentence, I fear it trivializes Constant Nobody to historical romantic fiction which it most certainly is not. However, it is historical fiction that deftly depicts another time and place by attention to detail. And Constant Nobody is a love story that captures the depth of feeling between men, physician and patient, a man and a woman. But Constant Nobody is also an exploration of humanity. Throughout this novel, there’s an underlying question: How does one navigate a life that seems destined by chance? The answer might be “by free will and twice as much by compulsion.”
Constant Nobody, like Butler Hallett’s earlier novel This Marlowe left me in respectful awe of this formidable Canadian author.
There are books in my library that I have reread several times since their first publication. Among them are Timothy Findleys’s Famous Last Words and Pilgrim, Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale, Alistair Macleod’s And Birds Call Forth The Sun and The Lost Salt Gift of Blood and Carol Shields’ Unless. But until Michelle Butler Hallett’s Constant Nobody, I have never reread the same book within a month. It was even better the second time around.
Constant Nobody transports the reader to Moscow, Russia, in 1937. It is an immersive sensory experience. There were moments when it felt like I was in the front row of an intimate theatrical performance. I’d catch a whiff of perfume, feel my heart race as characters were awakened by knocks on doors, shiver when the shower water in a Moscow apartment switched from lukewarm to ice-cold, or breathe a sigh of relief after an injection of morphine dulled intractable pain.
Constant Nobody is a love story caught up in the espionage intrigue of Moscow, 1937. And as I write that sentence, I fear it trivializes Constant Nobody to historical romantic fiction which it most certainly is not. However, it is historical fiction that deftly depicts another time and place by attention to detail. And Constant Nobody is a love story that captures the depth of feeling between men, physician and patient, a man and a woman. But Constant Nobody is also an exploration of humanity. Throughout this novel, there’s an underlying question: How does one navigate a life that seems destined by chance? The answer might be “by free will and twice as much by compulsion.”
Constant Nobody, like Butler Hallett’s earlier novel This Marlowe left me in respectful awe of this formidable Canadian author.
miramichireader's review
5.0
I'm giving it 5 stars primarily due to the amount of research that has gone into this work of fiction. This is literary fiction at it's best, set in a time and place of great (but not necessarily good) changes. Temerity and Nikto are "lovers in a dangerous time" and Moscow in 1937 is not the time or place for love. Ms. Butler Hallett creates a mise en scene much like she did with This Marlowe: the reader is fully ensconced in the times of the novel and desires to stay there until the last full stop. Suspenseful and evocative.
wayharshtai's review
dark
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol, Blood, Confinement, Death, Gun violence, Grief, Murder, Police brutality, and Torture
Moderate: Abortion, Sexual assault, and Rape
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