Reviews with content warning for Miscarriage - The Keeper of Stories

A note: I received a digital copy of this book via Netgalleys in exchange for an honest review, so I’d like to express my thanks to Netgalleys and the publisher for allowing me the opportunity to read it!

I very much struggled with this book at first. It is very slow, in line with the main character Janice’s everyday life. Since Janice collects the stories she overhears from the people around her, the book affords plenty of detail to background and supporting characters, which is interesting at times but in such great quantities at the beginning of the novel, it comes across as unfocused, disjointed, and a bit overwhelming. The plot and subplots take a while to start directing the story; the beginning of the novel drifts slowly, like Janice does, through everyday motions. Much of the narrative exists filtered through Janice’s internal perception of herself and her thoughts about the world around her. This results in a busily contemplative yet exceptionally slow-paced start to the novel, which for me was difficult to engage with. I also struggled to connect with Janice as a character because she is so defined by her external situation in life at the beginning of the novel; I imagine someone whose life situation is nearer to hers than mine would much more easily connect to her as a character.

But these issues lessened as I continued reading and I settled into the book as it went on. The concept of The Keeper of Stories itself matched the cozy, casual, reflective way it presented its narrative. I got used to the very slow pacing and Janice’s patterns of thought about life, and by the middle of the book I found myself almost as absorbed into its narrative as Janice is. The plot, though it is necessarily meandering, ties itself together more and more as the book continues, and I enjoyed following the various threads to see where they would end up.

What really struck me about this novel, though, was its main cast. Every character feels different from each other, all endearingly realistic, quotidian but quirky, and thoughtfully-written in their own ways. Each of the main cast adds something different to this book-- like how their stories add depth to Janice’s view of life-- and really facet the narrative with interesting detail and meaning to consider. Fiona’s character is a quietly determined one, trying as hard as possible to be a good mother but with understandable, lifelike flaws. Her grief for her husband is tangible and aching, but her resilience towards optimism shines in all she does. Her son Adam is realistically troubled, youthful and spiky with grief at once. Mrs. B is especially memorable: her independent, prickly, witty exterior is a satisfying contrast to her discerning but understanding, fiercely loving interior, and I loved how her character arc revolves so heavily around coming to terms with her own limitations and allowing other people into her life to help her. It mirrors Janice’s, in the end. Euan is also lovely and endearing; he is brightly solicitous, intuitive, and kind, a natural complement to Janice. Even the “bad guys” of this story were a joy to read. Mike is just the right amount of obnoxious and foolish, Tiberius the perfect mix of snobby, inconsiderate, and rude. They were fun to dislike and root against, with arcs that were immensely satisfying in that regard. I also loved Decius-- he brings humor and light to the story in a way that reflects Janice’s own telling of it, and I adored it.

Janice herself is what drives the novel; her arc is the narrative. The evolution of her mindset through the novel is fascinating and I really enjoyed following it once I settled into its slow pace. She starts off acting so profoundly regular, burying all her quirks-- like the story-collecting-- deep inside so that she can remain the Janice everyone, and especially Mike, perceives her to be: unassuming, docile, “just a cleaner.” The minimization of her identity by clients like Tiberius and his wife and also by Mike damages her own self-perception, and it is glorious when she begins to depart from their influence. Janice collects stories, but it takes reflection-- and a bit of help from Mrs. B and Euan and others like Geordie and her son along the way-- to realize her own is worth telling, too. Her journey to that point is emotional, funny and heartbreaking all at once, and I really enjoyed following it.

Also, concerning the ending of this novel

and its plot twist: I thought it was set up well, and it genuinely blindsided me but made sense in retrospect. The end of the novel and the latter events of the middle section leading up to it cast the narrative in a new light and lend it new depth. The plot twist illuminates how heavily guilt weighs on the narrative, how avoidance and self-hatred coat Janice-- but the revelation of it gives her self-awareness that develops into the beginning of self-realization by the end of the novel. She, like Mrs. B, learns to let other people into her life. She no longer has to deflect attention away from her own story by collecting others’; she can accept it for what it is and begin to find kinship with other people instead of that deflection. The message is quietly profound, perfectly suited to Janice’s character balancing agency and acceptance of help. I really enjoyed it.

Overall, The Keeper of Stories is a quaint, slow book that captures the meaning we can find in everyday life with aching emotion and lighthearted humor at once. Even if the pacing is difficult to connect with and the plot feels disjointed at times, the characters are interesting and more and more endearing as the novel goes on. This would be a good book for someone who finds themself defined by the normalcy of their life and the expectations others have for them; it would also be a good book to read over a long period of time, as it is languid in its pacing and warmly lavish in its detail. While I did find it difficult to get through-- I am not this book’s target audience, and I read it quite quickly, which I don’t think is the intended experience-- I enjoyed this book’s earnesty and appreciation for the variety of humanity, the vast array of stories people hold, and the identities we construct around them. How they connect us together, if only we tell them for others to hear.

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