skygiants | (no subject)

There's a particular joy in discovering one of one's favorite books of the year in the final days of the year, IMO, like -- ah yes! 2022 still has some gifts left for me!

Not that it is any kind of surprise really that I loved Sacha Lamb's When the Angels Left the Old Country -- I had fully been expecting to love it ever since I heard about it -- but you know how it is when you are fully expecting to love a book, and there's that deep fear in your heart that perhaps it won't be quite as good as you hope, and then the corresponding delight when it does in fact turn out to be as good as you hoped or perhaps even better.

The premise of the book is that an angel and a demon, who have spent decades peaceably studying Talmud together in a tiny shtetl, undertake it upon themselves to find out what happened to a young woman of their community who went to America and then fell off the map. This is mostly because the demon is stressed about rising anti-Semitism in the Pale of Settlement and has seized upon the lure of a righteous task to get the angel to accompany him Elsewhere. En route to New York they meet up with Rose, the third protagonist, an irritable baby lesbian who is sulkily going to America alone after her beloved best friend had the absolute temerity to decide to get married instead of coming with her.

They also meet with (among other things): quite a lot of crime and various schemes of exploitation! a rising labor movement! the banality of evil as exemplified through the various indignities of Ellis Island! a too-perceptive grandmother! a distinctly unfriendly goyishe demon! a rich variety of angry ghosts!

I knew the basic plot of the book, but that did not mean that I in any way anticipated the actual amount of plot; I was really impressed with how much the story escalates itself in ways that are rapid and satisfying, without losing track of the primary thread of the protagonists' journey of discovery as their travels change them in unexpected ways and expand their boundaries of self-definition. But honestly, my favorite thing about the book is just the particular charm of its narrative voice, which slides effortlessly into the conversational-folkloric pathways carved out by Aleichem and Singer and other yid-lit greats while being extremely charming and immersive in its own right.

(I do have one moderately-sized complaint, which is that Rose's late-book romance does not feel nearly as earned as I would like it to be, but no things are or indeed should be perfect in this world.)

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

happydork

OH MY GOODNESS THIS WILL BE MY FIRST NEW BOOK OF NEXT YEAR

From:

skygiants

oh Katy you gotta read this book Katy you GOTTA read this book

From:

happydork

It sounds like it truly could have been written for me

From:

happydork

Update: Not yet available as ebook in the UK. Still very excited to read it when it is released, but will not take a solemn vow refusing to touch all other new books until this one.

From:

skygiants

Fair I GUESS as long as you make sure to tell me once you have got it in your hands! [virtual or otherwise]

From:

chestnut_pod

I can't wait to finally get around to this!

From:

skygiants

I also can't wait to read your thoughts on it!

From:

ambyr

I have now placed this on hold at two libraries, thank you!

From:

skygiants

You're extremely welcome, I hope you enjoy it!

From:

sovay

This is mostly because the demon is stressed about rising anti-Semitism in the Pale of Settlement and has seized upon the lure of a righteous task to get the angel to accompany him Elsewhere.

Okay, fine.

From:

skygiants

I realize I am constantly making this offer but I would be SO happy to lend a copy (once Beth has finished with it.)

From:

reconditarmonia

I just finished it and I loved it loved it...but I also admit I was thinking about your story the whole time and wondering how a crossover would work!

From:

sovay

I just finished it and I loved it loved it...but I also admit I was thinking about your story the whole time and wondering how a crossover would work!

This does not make me want to read the book less, and thank you!!

P.S. and if you write one please let me know.

Edited (important) Date: 2023-02-17 11:19 pm (UTC)

From:

sophia_sol

ooh this sounds wonderful, I've put it on hold instantly!

From:

skygiants

yessss I'm very excited for you to read it!

From:

lannamichaels

YES on the narrative voice, it is perfect.

This book is so up your alley, I was reading it and thinking that, sure, it's not officially published yet (I got mine early from pre-order) but I was sure you had already read this book even with that, because I thought of you immediately.

From:

skygiants

I'd been hearing about it and eagerly anticipating it but had not read it!! I really wanted to go buy a copy at the official book launch but ended up otherwise committed that day, so I was very glad that Lamb ended up having another event in the area where I could go get a signed copy and enthuse at them in person.

From:

evewithanapple

So, funny thing about Rose and Dinah: their storyline used to have a much bigger role. The book was originally published on the author's tumblr, and then got picked up for publication, and FOR SOME REASON the lesbian subplot is what got cut down in the editing process.

But apart from that, 10/10, no notes.

[edit] Rose and ESSIE, not Rose and Dinah. Although it does kind of go to show what a nonentity Essie as a character that I can't keep her name straight. Great McGuffin, not exemplary love interest.

Edited Date: 2022-12-31 01:02 am (UTC)

From:

skygiants

I had heard that elsewhere and it does make me quite sad that I missed the original tumblr version! the book is just so explicit that Rose is castle-on-a-clouding an image of Essie in her head that I kept expecting something to be changed or contradicted when she was presented with the actual living person. But it's truly such a perfect book in all other ways and Rose herself is such a vivid character that I'm not complaining too much!

From:

reconditarmonia

What else was changed? I never got round to reading it before it was taken down from tumblr and I'm super curious about the differences. (what else happened in the Rose/Essie romance, too?)

From:

obopolsk

*adds to TBR*

From:

skygiants

yesssss you will love it

From:

reconditarmonia

I can't wait to read thisssss. I always meant to get round to reading it when it was posted online but now I will even be able to hold it in my hands!

Unrelatedly, did my Locked Tomb cake game get linked somewhere? I just got a bunch of kudos on it, one of which was yours!

From:

skygiants

lololol it did, by my friend on Twitter! I did NOT make it all the way through Yuletide that year so I was thrilled to have it brought to my attention

From:

reconditarmonia

Ahaha excellent.

From:

aria

Ooooh this is going in my TBR pile IMMEDIATELY

From:

skygiants

YES Ari I truly think you will dig it enormously

From:

lirazel

but you know how it is when you are fully expecting to love a book, and there's that deep fear in your heart that perhaps it won't be quite as good as you hope, and then the corresponding delight when it does in fact turn out to be as good as you hoped or perhaps even better.

YES I KNOW THIS FEELING. It is the best feeling!

Gosh, I can't wait to read this. It sounds like everything I love!

From:

skygiants

yessss I hope you enjoy it if and when you read it!

From:

reconditarmonia

Not that it is any kind of surprise really that I loved Sacha Lamb's When the Angels Left the Old Country -- I had fully been expecting to love it ever since I heard about it -- but you know how it is when you are fully expecting to love a book, and there's that deep fear in your heart that perhaps it won't be quite as good as you hope, and then the corresponding delight when it does in fact turn out to be as good as you hoped or perhaps even better.

I think on some level I was expecting it to be "good, for a fanfic" but no, it was actually really really good