The Mark of the Angel

The story is very good and the characters feel real, but what sets this book apart is the style in which it is written. The narrator's voice weaves expertly between story-teller and omniscent observer. There is one moment in particular - I will not spoil it by saying which - where this is done absolutely perfectly. It has been a long time since I've read a book where I noticed, and yet didn't find abrasive, the author's voice. Just the opposite, in fact.

What beautiful and unique writing! Nancy Huston is a great French-Canadian writer whose work I will be looking forward to reading in the future. The Mark of the Angel is a stunning novel set in Paris during the 1950's. The historic feel of the novel -- after World War 2, during the Algerian war -- is extremely accurate! The story of a daughter of a Nazi having an affair with a Jewish Communist is thought provoking and intense. There are various political views illustrated in this novel. Huston's writing style makes this beautiful work of art seem like silk. The narrative style is very unique. A tale of adultery, this novel sort of reminds me of The Scarlet Letter, but with strong political views and great historical feel. I highly recommend this book!

I force fed all my friends copies of Fugitve Pieces by Anne Michaels, another Canadian writing on a similar theme. One of them came back with The Mark of the Angel saying she preferred it. She may be right. I burned through this book. I stayed in on a picture perfect Sydney day to read it while images of the degeneration in Israel/Palestine flash on the TV screen. A theme of the book is that all the tragedies and happinesses have happened to someone before and that they will happen again is at once liberating and depressing. The book succeeds on 2 fronts. Love and political conflict.It captures the dynamics of the hopes and expectations we bring to new loves and relationships with some candour but not too cynically. And, it describes with surgical precision how political conflicts escalate and polarise. How the victims carry emotional baggage. How we fight the last war over and over. Wonderful imagery without pretension or self indulgence. The ending built up so that I was tense as I flew through the later pages.I also learned more about recent French history than I knew before. Kind of useful in understanding how the world works.

Huston manages to create a mural of the failure and pain of being human in the arc of human history. Her exquisite juxtaposition of the Algerian War and the love story of damaged survivors of WWII set in bas relief the eternal story of love and war throught time. In addition, Huston defies the common notion that the study of history teaches humanity to prevent its relapse. In both the devestation of memory and the torture of forgetting, she points out danger lines the road. Interjecting the ironic voice of the narrator into this tale of Saffie, Andras and Raphael, Huston leads us through the repetitive labyrinth - politics, anger, hate, dismemberment, torture, death - "old, old, old story called 'news.'" Her characters shine like iconic figures caught in klieglights through the very last word. The reader is snared, captured and devastated as Huston unfolds a tale of doomed love and doomed lives in the Parisian streets of the late 50's. Surely a most gifted writer, Huston forces us to ponder the meaning of being "human".

I was privileged to be given an advance copy of Nancy Huston's new book, The Mark of the Angel. I started reading it over supper one evening this summer after arriving home from work late, and didn't put it down -- *couldn't* put it down -- until after midnight when I finished it in tears. I was totally caught up in the lives of these people, totally engrossed in their interwoven, tragic lives and the larger context in which they lived.It took my breath away. It is a beautifully written book, very poetic, profoundly moving, and such an important novel for the end of this century. I haven't read such a powerful novel since Poisonwood Bible, which I also read in galley a year earlier. (And I read (and listen to) a *lot* of books.) Like Poisonwood, it is at once a detailed study of the intimate lives of people you come to care about very much, and also a profound statement about power and imperialism. It offers spiritual and political lessons as well as its poetry.I hope this isn't a spoiler... but when I finished the book, aside from wiping away my tears, the only other thing I could think to do that seemed appropriate was to give my (teen-ager) son a long, warm hug.I hope that many, many, many people will discover this gem of a book and love it as much as I did.