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A review by blue_jules
From All False Doctrine by Alice Degan
So, Alice Degan's "From All False Doctrine". Set in Toronto in the 1920s, it's surprisingly difficult to categorize. There's an obvious romance aspect: we follow four people, who organize themselves into two couples early on. Harriet, a heiress, and Elsa, a farmer's daughter and an atheist, are university students and friends; Peachy, a chaotic musician and composer, and Kit, a priest, are brothers and friends. Despite their differences, they hit it off after a random encounter at the beach, but marriage seems unlikely for various reasons.
Then there's a "dark academia" and occult aspect: Elsa, a classicist, works with an ancient manuscript and there's not only academic intrigue around it, but also an occult group working it. Peachy also gets involved, and goes missing.
And then the whole things goes unexpected places.
There's a ton of witty dialogue and friendly banter, there are rather deep thoughts about religion and parenting, there are great supporting characters, there are timeless observations about navigating patriarchy as a woman. I liked that very much, but feel that the religious themes might put some people off. The pacing also is slightly weird, with not much except people talking happening punctuated by action scenes. But the writing is so good it worked for me anyway. A delightful read -a bit like Umberto Eco's "Foucault's Pendulum", but with more female characters and Christianity. It made me laugh, and think, and want to spend more time with those characters.
Then there's a "dark academia" and occult aspect: Elsa, a classicist, works with an ancient manuscript and there's not only academic intrigue around it, but also an occult group working it. Peachy also gets involved, and goes missing.
And then the whole things goes unexpected places.
There's a ton of witty dialogue and friendly banter, there are rather deep thoughts about religion and parenting, there are great supporting characters, there are timeless observations about navigating patriarchy as a woman. I liked that very much, but feel that the religious themes might put some people off. The pacing also is slightly weird, with not much except people talking happening punctuated by action scenes. But the writing is so good it worked for me anyway. A delightful read -a bit like Umberto Eco's "Foucault's Pendulum", but with more female characters and Christianity. It made me laugh, and think, and want to spend more time with those characters.