A review by anndudzinski
Alchemy of a Blackbird by Claire McMillan

adventurous challenging informative medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.75

Alchemy of a Blackbird is based on the true story of surrealist artist Remedios Varo.  It follows her 1939 escape from the Nazis in Paris, to tense days in Marseilles awaiting papers to flee France, to the rebuilding of her life, and reclaiming of her art, in Mexico.

I love historical fiction that features real people, and the inclusion of the occult and tarot made this a must-read for me, even though I typically avoid WWII literature (the market is oversaturated, IMO).  

The story itself was interesting, but overall this book fell short of my expectations.  While the occult was featured, it was more of a plot device, dropped in here and there to show the reader that Remedios worked with the divine but never really delved into.  I think that had to do with the point of view, which was very removed from Remedios.  

Each chapter began with Remedios in third person, then about two thirds of the way through, switched to whatever other character happened to be in that chapter in first person.  The point of those inserts, which were jarring for me to read in the first few chapters, seemed a device to give another perspective on Remedios and the situation at hand.  Unfortunately, they simply served to pull me out of the immediate story.  There were so many historic names and dates dropped into some of them that it felt like the author simply wanted to use all of her research notes.  I think the story would have been better served to have Remedios in first person and cut the other peripheral characters’ sections. 

The occult is deep and the point of the book was to show Remedios’s transformation, yet the author never got into her head or heart.  In the end, I felt like I was told a story instead of experiencing it for myself.

2.75/5 stars  ⭐⭐+