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The Manikin: A Novel
New Henry Holt,, (1996.). Fine in a fine dust jacket (as new.). First printing. Part coming of age story, part gothic mystery, this is set on an estate (the 'Manikin' of the title) in upstate New York in 1917. Finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. Her fourth novel, fifth book. 276 pp.
288 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1996
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783 people want to read
About the author
Joanna Scott
25 books66 followersfrom the backcover:
Joanna Scott is an Assistant Professor of English at the University of Rochester. She has also taught in the creative writing programs at Princeton University and the University of Maryland. She was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship during the writing of Arrogance.
Librarian note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
Joanna^^Scott
Joanna Scott is an Assistant Professor of English at the University of Rochester. She has also taught in the creative writing programs at Princeton University and the University of Maryland. She was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship during the writing of Arrogance.
Librarian note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
Joanna^^Scott
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews
July 5, 2017
Remember that suspenseful and strange love story, Rebecca, and the eerie house that was a character itself, Manderley? This book seems to have woven in some bits and pieces of that book, and in some instances, some pieces of the Bronte sisters' concept of the empowered houseworker-turned-lover, and well, you know the end. Except that the ending here is a bit twisted, which makes for a good concept, yet not one that is well-developed.
A white owl meets a tragic end in the beginning and this is foreshadow of bad things to come. In a country mansion, a dutiful housekeeper takes care of her dying boss, whose husband has died and whose son has betrayed her. The house's employees hang on to their jobs as lifelines - each has his or her meaningful backstory. Soon, Liliane, a family friend and beautiful young woman comes to live at The Manikin. Peg, the housekeeper's daughter, is attracted to her. You would think this all sounds alluringly layered.
Yet so many things happen at once. So many characters fight for the position of main character. Story intimacy becomes elusive. The prose is sharp, but too rehearsed that it appears in various points of views, with a few narrative voices intertwined, so that plot development and style competes and unfortunately, style takes precedence. The plot meanders, towards the second half, in a way that seems rushed. This book was a finalist for the 1997 Pulitzer Prize in Fiction, and in some way what it set out to achieve is unique. But if my thoughts seem rushed and unlike my regular reviews, it is because this just wasn't the read for me.
A white owl meets a tragic end in the beginning and this is foreshadow of bad things to come. In a country mansion, a dutiful housekeeper takes care of her dying boss, whose husband has died and whose son has betrayed her. The house's employees hang on to their jobs as lifelines - each has his or her meaningful backstory. Soon, Liliane, a family friend and beautiful young woman comes to live at The Manikin. Peg, the housekeeper's daughter, is attracted to her. You would think this all sounds alluringly layered.
Yet so many things happen at once. So many characters fight for the position of main character. Story intimacy becomes elusive. The prose is sharp, but too rehearsed that it appears in various points of views, with a few narrative voices intertwined, so that plot development and style competes and unfortunately, style takes precedence. The plot meanders, towards the second half, in a way that seems rushed. This book was a finalist for the 1997 Pulitzer Prize in Fiction, and in some way what it set out to achieve is unique. But if my thoughts seem rushed and unlike my regular reviews, it is because this just wasn't the read for me.
July 27, 2008
One of my all-time favorites. Taxidermy! Lesbianism! Snow owls! Creepy houses!
August 21, 2016
Review can also be found in Chill and read
The Manikin is the curious estate of Henry Craxton, Sr. in a rural western New York State. Mary Craxton leaves there, even though she never really wanted to, while her husband is dead and her remaining son, Henry Craxton Jr. is away from her, travelling the world. The family has got its money from taxidermy, since Craxton Institute is supplying the natural history museums with its showpieces. This is the story of the decline of that family, and the rise of its servants, especially the housekeeper Ellen and her daughter Peg.
The story begins with the northern owl travelling over the Craxton Lake. Later on, this owl is shot by the houseman's son, and becomes a showpiece itself. This happens a little before window Mary Craxton dies and her son returns to find that she's left everything to charity. The servants hate Henry Craxton who decides to take what is rightfully his by law. The have every right to do so, as he is a sin that never loved his mother and has the worst manners ever, especially when it comes to them.
Joanna Scott wrote a book, finalist to the 1997 Pulitzer prize. The characters are deep, with emotions, described in a poetic way. The setting is a romantic one, and the description of the nature flows seamlessly as the story proceeds. Love and passion are in the air, all inside the mansion and its surroundings. Words untold, remaining in the minds of the characters. Discussions that never took place between a mother and a daughter, a woman and a man. Heroes of the small things.
The Manikin is the curious estate of Henry Craxton, Sr. in a rural western New York State. Mary Craxton leaves there, even though she never really wanted to, while her husband is dead and her remaining son, Henry Craxton Jr. is away from her, travelling the world. The family has got its money from taxidermy, since Craxton Institute is supplying the natural history museums with its showpieces. This is the story of the decline of that family, and the rise of its servants, especially the housekeeper Ellen and her daughter Peg.
The story begins with the northern owl travelling over the Craxton Lake. Later on, this owl is shot by the houseman's son, and becomes a showpiece itself. This happens a little before window Mary Craxton dies and her son returns to find that she's left everything to charity. The servants hate Henry Craxton who decides to take what is rightfully his by law. The have every right to do so, as he is a sin that never loved his mother and has the worst manners ever, especially when it comes to them.
Joanna Scott wrote a book, finalist to the 1997 Pulitzer prize. The characters are deep, with emotions, described in a poetic way. The setting is a romantic one, and the description of the nature flows seamlessly as the story proceeds. Love and passion are in the air, all inside the mansion and its surroundings. Words untold, remaining in the minds of the characters. Discussions that never took place between a mother and a daughter, a woman and a man. Heroes of the small things.
December 5, 2012
From page 65:
"Snow at last. True snow. Not the furtive or dishonest snow that has started and stopped and started again for weeks. Not the meanspiriteed, sleety snow or the snow that coats the trees with ice. This is snow that gains in bulk and weight with astonishing speed, snow that transforms the forest within minutes into a whitewashed maze of compartments and aisles, snow that lands in tempting dollops on the tiny red berries of the bitter nightshade, snow that stick so the hairpin edges of rhododendron leaves, snow that skews; perspective, making even the tress close by wave like seagrass. It is not yet the harsh sow with blizzard winds that sweeps south from Canada. This is snow that seems indigenous, falling vertically with a soft hiss, gathering in mounds shaped by the contours of the earth. It is a snow that marks the beginning of winter. A snow that buries."
"Snow at last. True snow. Not the furtive or dishonest snow that has started and stopped and started again for weeks. Not the meanspiriteed, sleety snow or the snow that coats the trees with ice. This is snow that gains in bulk and weight with astonishing speed, snow that transforms the forest within minutes into a whitewashed maze of compartments and aisles, snow that lands in tempting dollops on the tiny red berries of the bitter nightshade, snow that stick so the hairpin edges of rhododendron leaves, snow that skews; perspective, making even the tress close by wave like seagrass. It is not yet the harsh sow with blizzard winds that sweeps south from Canada. This is snow that seems indigenous, falling vertically with a soft hiss, gathering in mounds shaped by the contours of the earth. It is a snow that marks the beginning of winter. A snow that buries."
November 8, 2022
I was excited to read this because I'm local to upstate New York. I was hoping for more recognizable descriptions. I liked the characters and the storyline, for the most part. I'm sad for some as well. Overall a good read.
February 26, 2015
It is easy to see why this book was a finalist for the Pulitizer Prize. Joanna Scott is a talented writer who weaves a haunting tale of a home in the late 19th century. Oddly enough a wax work company in Portsmouth, NH is referred to in part of the story. I will do some further investigation.
July 3, 2024
I am biased because Joanna Scott was my professor at the University of Rochester. She was an extraordinary professor—brutally honest without compromising a personal touch. Scott made every story feel like it had potential, especially when I was skeptical of my fellow students, and she was also incredibly specific and introspective about her comments—you could tell she really spent time reading through every student's story.
So when I read The Manikin, perhaps I wasn't surprised that it seemed like Scott had deliberately chosen every written word with precise intention. Indeed, knowing her, she was the type of person to care deeply about the meaning behind a single word or a single sentence. When I picked up the book, The Manikin became a real place to me. It existed in some corner of Western New York that I'd seen before, but couldn't quite remember where. I could feel the winter snow and smell the muddy dirty road in spring. This can only be accomplished with a high level of mastery and concern for writing.
I've seen people express gripes with this book—the character's aren't vivid enough, and the story flows in a way that can be hard to follow. I don't disagree with these sentiments, but I pose some questions. One, I feel that the characters were simply a foil for the environment and the setting. At the end of the day, almost every character's downfall and success was dependent on the house, the land, and its owners. Case in point, the story doesn't follow Peg's departure once she leaves Western New York, highlighting the importance of location rather than character. Her perspective is only given to the reader once she returns.
Two, the flow of the story is rather interesting because it doesn't center one character as the main narrator, although the book is advertised as a coming of age story focused around Peg and the ending re-centers the narrative onto Peg. It was an ambitious move by Scott. I don't think that she entirely accomplished the feat of creating well-rounded characters, but I also think that it doesn't distract from the overall creativity and immersive nature of the book.
I read another book shortly after this that has been very popular for the last couple of years (won't name names, but probably will write a review for it too). Please fault me if I sound pretentious saying this, but the writing of that book shocked me; parts of it were totally mediocre, unbelievable, and (even) cringey, while others managed to hold my attention because of the plot elements rather than the writing itself. I'd like to think that we've entered a moment in literature (be it popular or not) where people are concerned with the quality of writing and editing. Sally Rooney is a great example; her books are immensely popular and adapted, but she has a distinct writing style that is both cohesive and interesting. All of this made me think of The Manikin and how gorgeous and distinct its writing is. I wish that it had garnered more attention (besides its Pulitzer nomination) because I truly think that the best books are the ones where you can tell there was a labor of love and where the words themselves actually mean something.
So when I read The Manikin, perhaps I wasn't surprised that it seemed like Scott had deliberately chosen every written word with precise intention. Indeed, knowing her, she was the type of person to care deeply about the meaning behind a single word or a single sentence. When I picked up the book, The Manikin became a real place to me. It existed in some corner of Western New York that I'd seen before, but couldn't quite remember where. I could feel the winter snow and smell the muddy dirty road in spring. This can only be accomplished with a high level of mastery and concern for writing.
I've seen people express gripes with this book—the character's aren't vivid enough, and the story flows in a way that can be hard to follow. I don't disagree with these sentiments, but I pose some questions. One, I feel that the characters were simply a foil for the environment and the setting. At the end of the day, almost every character's downfall and success was dependent on the house, the land, and its owners. Case in point, the story doesn't follow Peg's departure once she leaves Western New York, highlighting the importance of location rather than character. Her perspective is only given to the reader once she returns.
Two, the flow of the story is rather interesting because it doesn't center one character as the main narrator, although the book is advertised as a coming of age story focused around Peg and the ending re-centers the narrative onto Peg. It was an ambitious move by Scott. I don't think that she entirely accomplished the feat of creating well-rounded characters, but I also think that it doesn't distract from the overall creativity and immersive nature of the book.
I read another book shortly after this that has been very popular for the last couple of years (won't name names, but probably will write a review for it too). Please fault me if I sound pretentious saying this, but the writing of that book shocked me; parts of it were totally mediocre, unbelievable, and (even) cringey, while others managed to hold my attention because of the plot elements rather than the writing itself. I'd like to think that we've entered a moment in literature (be it popular or not) where people are concerned with the quality of writing and editing. Sally Rooney is a great example; her books are immensely popular and adapted, but she has a distinct writing style that is both cohesive and interesting. All of this made me think of The Manikin and how gorgeous and distinct its writing is. I wish that it had garnered more attention (besides its Pulitzer nomination) because I truly think that the best books are the ones where you can tell there was a labor of love and where the words themselves actually mean something.
March 3, 2018
The Manikin centers on the estate of the late Henry Craxton, Sr., based on the real-life Henry August Ward, who founded Ward's Natural Science Establishment at the University of Rochester in 1862. He specialized in taxidermy mounts, rocks and minerals, skeletons and bones, and suchlike, which proved indispensable to the era's growing museum movement. The company still exists as a retailer of science educational materials.
Located in rural Western New York somewhere between Rochester and Buffalo, the Craxton estate is by the 1920s merely an isolated outpost occupied solely by Craxton's housebound widow Mary and her team of close-knit domestics, including housekeeper Ellen, her rebellious teenage daughter Peg, landscaper Lore and his son Junket, retired master taxidermist Boggio, and cook Sylva and her husband and children. The place is something of a surreal pocket dimension: acres of sylvan beauty enclosing a monument to artifice in the form of a mansion stuffed to the brim with taxidermy, collections of insect specimens, and other bits of the natural world captured to satisfy human curiosity and obsession. Author Scott ironically likens her human characters to taxidermy mounts themselves, being artistic creations positioned in mimicry of real life. The omniscient narrator is clearly speaking from a present-day perspective, stopping at a couple of points to comment on computers and the modern acceptance of lesbian daughters, which reinforces a sense of distance from the make-believe setting akin to that between a posed dead animal and its human viewer. Scott's prose is likewise a stunning artistic interpretation of the WNY winter as only someone who has experienced it can achieve. Nothing like those March blizzards that pop up just when you think spring is on the way.
Unfortunately, The Manikin really goes off the rails in the final quarter. . But it was nominated for the 1997 Pulitzer, so YMMV.
Located in rural Western New York somewhere between Rochester and Buffalo, the Craxton estate is by the 1920s merely an isolated outpost occupied solely by Craxton's housebound widow Mary and her team of close-knit domestics, including housekeeper Ellen, her rebellious teenage daughter Peg, landscaper Lore and his son Junket, retired master taxidermist Boggio, and cook Sylva and her husband and children. The place is something of a surreal pocket dimension: acres of sylvan beauty enclosing a monument to artifice in the form of a mansion stuffed to the brim with taxidermy, collections of insect specimens, and other bits of the natural world captured to satisfy human curiosity and obsession. Author Scott ironically likens her human characters to taxidermy mounts themselves, being artistic creations positioned in mimicry of real life. The omniscient narrator is clearly speaking from a present-day perspective, stopping at a couple of points to comment on computers and the modern acceptance of lesbian daughters, which reinforces a sense of distance from the make-believe setting akin to that between a posed dead animal and its human viewer. Scott's prose is likewise a stunning artistic interpretation of the WNY winter as only someone who has experienced it can achieve. Nothing like those March blizzards that pop up just when you think spring is on the way.
Unfortunately, The Manikin really goes off the rails in the final quarter. . But it was nominated for the 1997 Pulitzer, so YMMV.
January 27, 2018
A truly modern Gothic. The Manikin is a house, named for the flexible skeleton in a taxidermied animal, built by a man dedicated to the unnatural preservation of natural history. With that complex metaphor at its center, the story is about the secrets in old families, class struggle, portents, magic of a sort, and much more. Ms. Scott's writing is beautiful, even when it's telling the darkest of tales. I liked the first two-thirds of the book but thought it wandered a bit near the end. Still, I can't say I've ever read anything quite like it and would recommend it to anyone with a taste for a smart take on a crumbling, haunted genre.
February 20, 2024
Expert narration, able to warp and modulate without descending into gimmickry; maintains an internal economy of voices and images that resembles the self-sustaining world of a farmstead; the plot is eventful and lively, but sometimes more curious than truly strange (but still able to shock and surprise at times).
July 22, 2018
“Magic light. There can be no doubt about its effect.”
“The natural world is a lovely adversary whose beauty may never be trusted.”
“The natural world is a lovely adversary whose beauty may never be trusted.”
January 4, 2022
One of the best books I ever read.
June 16, 2025
Read for honors. Absolutely stunning prose. Would’ve been five stars but the Peg fourth wall break in the last chapter disappointed me.
January 6, 2021
The setting and images are good. Learned a few things about taxidermy. While this is not a mystery or thriller, it is a fine story.
March 26, 2020
Remarkably inventive, with spectacular descriptions of the natural world and well drawn human complexity.
July 17, 2014
"The Manikin" is similar in style to two other Pulitzer nominees I've read recently - The Plague of Doves and Evidence of Things Unseen. Lyrical writing, strong sense of time and place, large cast of characters, almost excessive information that isn't exactly related to the plot.
The thing I most disliked about "The Manikin" was the third-person omniscient narrative. While it is understandably necessary for the way the novel is constructed, it made the characters feel one-dimensional. I did not like being told what the characters were doing and thinking and feeling...I wanted to experience those things through them. There was also something about the writing style that detracted from the creepy/gothic element, like the difference between going to a haunted house and being told about someone else's trip to a haunted house.
"The Manikin" is just an okay book. I would not enthusiastically recommend it to anyone.
The thing I most disliked about "The Manikin" was the third-person omniscient narrative. While it is understandably necessary for the way the novel is constructed, it made the characters feel one-dimensional. I did not like being told what the characters were doing and thinking and feeling...I wanted to experience those things through them. There was also something about the writing style that detracted from the creepy/gothic element, like the difference between going to a haunted house and being told about someone else's trip to a haunted house.
"The Manikin" is just an okay book. I would not enthusiastically recommend it to anyone.
Read
July 27, 2009A manor house in the northern Hudson Valley is owned by a family that got its money from taxidermy: the Caxtons. This is the story of the decline of that family, and the rise of its servants, especially the housekeeper Ellen and her daughter Peg. The story has a frame of the present, during which the ruined and abandoned house is being restored by the townspeople in an attempt to attract tourists. Most of it takes place 30-50 years before, though, when the widow of the original Caxton owner, who was keeping the house together through spite and force of will, declines and dies, and her son returns to find she's left everything to charity. The servants revolt and throw him out when they find/think that he's raped 16-year-old Peg, and Ellen ends up marrying the head gameskeeper and they live happily ever after. Lyrical prose, evocative images, slightly annoying occasionally in the length of the flights of fancy and overinterpretation of the significance and possible reactions of the characters. Mohawnk House the genesis, perhaps?
August 26, 2011
This novel concerns the people living in a mansion in upstate New York during the 1920s. It was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize in 1997, a fact which suprises me, because I found the book disappointing. The setting is a rather eccentric place - a mansion built out in the middle of nowhere and filled with the archaeological and natural history artifacts collected by its deceased builder. Yet the plot and characters fall flat, never delivering on the promise of such a fascinating setting. The only thing that kept me reading was Scott's flair for gorgeously lyrical descriptive language. She should be a poet rather than a novelist.
November 22, 2009
I didn't love this book. In fact, I paged through several parts of it just to see what happened at the end. I thought she gave too many details in many parts. I didn't particularly care about any of the characters or their relationships. I'm not sure why I stuck with this book except that it was easier to stick with it than to start a new book.
October 1, 2023
I found the story to be quite disjointed and totally lost my interest about 3/4 of the way through. The suspense at the beginning of the book was engaging but was lost as the story progressed. I would not recommend this book. I was left feeling that I was denied a realistic and compelling conclusion
July 27, 2008
The book captures the presence of an old house and the mysteries in it through the people in it. I found I zipped right through it, most entranced. There is one birth scene that goes over the top (symbol fest), but that is my only complaint.
November 10, 2012
Captivating!! Second read after years. Absolutely love it!! Characters to fall in love with, setting is gothic and the natural world speaks, poetic, symbolic. For my tastes, this novel has it all. I look forward reading all that Joanna Scott has written.
February 28, 2013
I kept waiting for something more to happen. Just as an event was building, the scene would change and start building again. There was never any points of satisfaction to really make the reader connect with the characters.
January 4, 2008
A scientific gothic. Who else can claim that? Read this by candlelight with a glass of neat whiskey on a winter's night. Or read it anytime you'd like to feel like that. Loved this.
December 31, 2014
Character deep and plot great.
May 7, 2008
Did not like it. Perverted adult content.
November 23, 2008
I thought the writing was just stunning. I sort of wondered where the story was going for a while, and then it picked back up, but I was always struck by the beauty of the sentences.
Want to read
July 29, 201197 finalist-pulitzer prize
December 9, 2015
2015 Reading Challenge - A book that takes place in your hometown (Rochester, NY)
July 30, 2019
I think I liked this more bc it takes place near Rochester but there was something about the slow country pace and the closed off world inside the house that worked for me.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews