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mondyboy 's review for:
The Changeling
by Victor LaValle
Last year Victor Lavalle wrote my favourite novella, "The Ballad of Black Tom", a brilliant reimagining of Lovecraft's racist "The Horror At Red Hook". This year Victor Lavalle has written (probably) my favourite fantasy novel, The Changeling, a book that confronts both the anxieties of parenthood and the toxicity of Men's Rights Activists.
Apollo is a rare book dealer whose life is motoring on just fine. He is happily married to Emma and they've just brought into the world a happy new baby boy. Except... well... since the birth of their son Emma has been acting weird, detached, unwilling to show affection or bond with her child. What seems to be an awful case of post-partum depression becomes a nightmare when Emma seemingly murders her son and vanishes into the night. Apollo, with revenge on his mind, searches for his wife but what he discovers... well how about you read the book and find out.
I've been a father now for seven years but I'll never forget that feeling of joy and elation mixed with trepidation and fear when my son was born. It's a feeling that never actually goes away, not entirely. Victor Lavalle perfectly captures that sense of joy and apprehension. Of course, for Apollo it's ratcheted up to a thousand because something does go horribly wrong, but even before that, before the plot kicks in, Apollo is a man who concerns himself with being a good father, worried about the little things such as making sure his son is happy and fed and keeping an eye out for his safety. Apollo is further driven by the desire not to be like his own father who one day vanished from his life (and whose disappearance still plagues Apollo's dreams).
It's not just about Apollo though, it's also about Emma and the choices she has to make in regard to her son. Terrible choices that I won't spoil here but that make perfect sense as the plot unfolds. This isn't just a novel about a father's anxieties but also about a mother's fear of not being believed when she knows there's something wrong with her child but no-one else, not her husband, not the professionals can see it. Yes this is a book told mostly from Apollo's perspective, but the question of what it is to be a mother is not diminished or undermined.
For his villains Victor Lavalle - in touch with those shouting the loudest at the moment - appropriately chooses a cabal of Men's Rights Activists. Lavalle doesn't hold back in his depiction of them as sad, lonely misogynists. Or more precisely sad, lonely misogynists who use technology and Scottish folklore (note the title) for their own awful agenda. These men are so fucking insane that the lead villain is willing to deface a pristine first edition of To Kill A Mockingbird, which he then sends to his estranged wife, just to show how much he hates her. And Harper Lee apparently.
I haven't said much about the fantastical elements - again note the title - not because it's secondary to the themes of the book - actually the myth of the changeling is a brilliant metaphor for the concerns of parenthood - but because it's so neatly interweaved into the novel that to say much more would be to spoil the fun.
I truly loved this book. It's exploration of parenting resonated and it's use of the fantastic was smart and beautifully understated. Expect to see The Changeling feature on all sorts of award ballots next year.
“Apollo had become one of those men. The New Dads. So much better than the Old Dads of the past. New Dads wear their children. New Dads change the baby’s diaper three times a night. New Dads do the dishes and the laundry. New Dads cook the meals. New Dads read the infant development books and do more research online. New Dads apply coconut oil to the baby’s crotch to avoid diaper rash. New Dads bake sweet potatoes, then grind them in the blender once the baby is old enough for solid foods. New Dads carry the diaper bag—really a big old purse—without awareness of shame. New Dads are emotionally available. New Dads do half the housework (really more like 35 percent, but that’s still so much better than zero). New Dads fix all the mistakes the Old Dads made. New Dads are the future, or at least they plan to be, but since they’re making all this shit up as they go along, New Dads are also scared as hell.”
Apollo is a rare book dealer whose life is motoring on just fine. He is happily married to Emma and they've just brought into the world a happy new baby boy. Except... well... since the birth of their son Emma has been acting weird, detached, unwilling to show affection or bond with her child. What seems to be an awful case of post-partum depression becomes a nightmare when Emma seemingly murders her son and vanishes into the night. Apollo, with revenge on his mind, searches for his wife but what he discovers... well how about you read the book and find out.
I've been a father now for seven years but I'll never forget that feeling of joy and elation mixed with trepidation and fear when my son was born. It's a feeling that never actually goes away, not entirely. Victor Lavalle perfectly captures that sense of joy and apprehension. Of course, for Apollo it's ratcheted up to a thousand because something does go horribly wrong, but even before that, before the plot kicks in, Apollo is a man who concerns himself with being a good father, worried about the little things such as making sure his son is happy and fed and keeping an eye out for his safety. Apollo is further driven by the desire not to be like his own father who one day vanished from his life (and whose disappearance still plagues Apollo's dreams).
It's not just about Apollo though, it's also about Emma and the choices she has to make in regard to her son. Terrible choices that I won't spoil here but that make perfect sense as the plot unfolds. This isn't just a novel about a father's anxieties but also about a mother's fear of not being believed when she knows there's something wrong with her child but no-one else, not her husband, not the professionals can see it. Yes this is a book told mostly from Apollo's perspective, but the question of what it is to be a mother is not diminished or undermined.
For his villains Victor Lavalle - in touch with those shouting the loudest at the moment - appropriately chooses a cabal of Men's Rights Activists. Lavalle doesn't hold back in his depiction of them as sad, lonely misogynists. Or more precisely sad, lonely misogynists who use technology and Scottish folklore (note the title) for their own awful agenda. These men are so fucking insane that the lead villain is willing to deface a pristine first edition of To Kill A Mockingbird, which he then sends to his estranged wife, just to show how much he hates her. And Harper Lee apparently.
I haven't said much about the fantastical elements - again note the title - not because it's secondary to the themes of the book - actually the myth of the changeling is a brilliant metaphor for the concerns of parenthood - but because it's so neatly interweaved into the novel that to say much more would be to spoil the fun.
I truly loved this book. It's exploration of parenting resonated and it's use of the fantastic was smart and beautifully understated. Expect to see The Changeling feature on all sorts of award ballots next year.
“Apollo had become one of those men. The New Dads. So much better than the Old Dads of the past. New Dads wear their children. New Dads change the baby’s diaper three times a night. New Dads do the dishes and the laundry. New Dads cook the meals. New Dads read the infant development books and do more research online. New Dads apply coconut oil to the baby’s crotch to avoid diaper rash. New Dads bake sweet potatoes, then grind them in the blender once the baby is old enough for solid foods. New Dads carry the diaper bag—really a big old purse—without awareness of shame. New Dads are emotionally available. New Dads do half the housework (really more like 35 percent, but that’s still so much better than zero). New Dads fix all the mistakes the Old Dads made. New Dads are the future, or at least they plan to be, but since they’re making all this shit up as they go along, New Dads are also scared as hell.”