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A review by sshabein
Your Presence Is Requested at Suvanto by Maile Chapman
3.0
How could I resist a title like Your Presence is Requested at Suvanto? I’m a sucker for a good, long title, and with a cover blurb comparing the Maile Chapman to Patricia Highsmith, I knew I had to read it. Trouble is, I over-hyped myself based on the title alone. Perhaps having already been desensitized to Highsmith-esque macabre, the book felt understated by comparison. But though the degree of my appreciation may have faltered, I did enjoy immersing myself in the unfamiliar environment.
It’s a well-written book, a well-told book, but also a particular sort of book. With much of the action taken off-stage, it’s certainly unlike any book I’ve read in quite awhile. Is the Highsmith comparison apt? Perhaps. There is no outrage or revulsion when it comes to blood or moral questions, though Chapman is nowhere near as sinister. For a lot of readers, that’s a good thing — and presumably Chapman herself does not have the misanthropic worldview that Highsmith did.
I would welcome reading Maile Chapman’s other work. Though Suvanto is a different book, it does not make a big show out of being different. It is what it is, and that, I really respect.
(Full review can be found on Glorified Love Letters.)
It’s a well-written book, a well-told book, but also a particular sort of book. With much of the action taken off-stage, it’s certainly unlike any book I’ve read in quite awhile. Is the Highsmith comparison apt? Perhaps. There is no outrage or revulsion when it comes to blood or moral questions, though Chapman is nowhere near as sinister. For a lot of readers, that’s a good thing — and presumably Chapman herself does not have the misanthropic worldview that Highsmith did.
I would welcome reading Maile Chapman’s other work. Though Suvanto is a different book, it does not make a big show out of being different. It is what it is, and that, I really respect.
(Full review can be found on Glorified Love Letters.)