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The Capital of Dreams
A breathtaking dark fairytale of survival and betrayal, from the vivid imagination of Heather O’Neill
Sofia Bottom lives in a small country that Europe has forgotten. But inside its borders, the old myths of trees that come alive and faeries who live among their roots have given way to an explosion of the arts and the consolations of philosophy. No one, from the clarinetists to the cabaret singers, is as revered in the arts as Sofia’s brilliant mother, the writer Clara Bottom. How can 14 year old Sofia, with a tin ear and an enduring love of the old myths, ever hope to win her mother’s love?
When the country’s greatest enemy invades, and the Capital is under threat, at last Clara turns to her daughter. Sofia must smuggle her new manuscript to safety on the last train evacuating children from the city. But the train draws to a suspicious halt in the middle of a forest, and Sofia must run for her life, losing her mother’s most prized possession. Now frightened and alone in a country at war, Sofia must find a way to reclaim what she has lost. On an epic journey through woods and razed towns, colliding with soldiers, survivors and other lost children, Sofia must make the choice between kindness and survival.
In a stunning dark fairytale of a novel, Heather O’Neill reveals once again that she is a master of language that is as delicious as cake and serious as a gunshot.
Sofia Bottom lives in a small country that Europe has forgotten. But inside its borders, the old myths of trees that come alive and faeries who live among their roots have given way to an explosion of the arts and the consolations of philosophy. No one, from the clarinetists to the cabaret singers, is as revered in the arts as Sofia’s brilliant mother, the writer Clara Bottom. How can 14 year old Sofia, with a tin ear and an enduring love of the old myths, ever hope to win her mother’s love?
When the country’s greatest enemy invades, and the Capital is under threat, at last Clara turns to her daughter. Sofia must smuggle her new manuscript to safety on the last train evacuating children from the city. But the train draws to a suspicious halt in the middle of a forest, and Sofia must run for her life, losing her mother’s most prized possession. Now frightened and alone in a country at war, Sofia must find a way to reclaim what she has lost. On an epic journey through woods and razed towns, colliding with soldiers, survivors and other lost children, Sofia must make the choice between kindness and survival.
In a stunning dark fairytale of a novel, Heather O’Neill reveals once again that she is a master of language that is as delicious as cake and serious as a gunshot.
368 pages, Hardcover
First published September 10, 2024
211 people are currently reading
15798 people want to read
About the author
Heather O'Neill
74 books2,627 followersHeather O'Neill was born in Montreal and attended McGill University.
She published her debut novel, Lullabies for Little Criminals, in 2006. The novel won the Canada Reads competition (2007) and was awarded the Hugh Maclennan Award (2007). It was nominated for eight other awards included the Orange Prize, the Governor General's Award and the IMPAC Dublin Literary Prize. It was an international bestseller.
Her books The Girl Who Was Saturday Night (2014) and Daydreams of Angels (2015) were both shortlisted for the Giller Prize.
Her third novel The Lonely Hearts Hotel will be published in February 2017.
Her credits also include a screenplay, a book of poetry, and contributions to The New York Times Magazine, This American Life, The Globe and Mail, Elle Magazine, The Walrus and Rookie Magazine.
She published her debut novel, Lullabies for Little Criminals, in 2006. The novel won the Canada Reads competition (2007) and was awarded the Hugh Maclennan Award (2007). It was nominated for eight other awards included the Orange Prize, the Governor General's Award and the IMPAC Dublin Literary Prize. It was an international bestseller.
Her books The Girl Who Was Saturday Night (2014) and Daydreams of Angels (2015) were both shortlisted for the Giller Prize.
Her third novel The Lonely Hearts Hotel will be published in February 2017.
Her credits also include a screenplay, a book of poetry, and contributions to The New York Times Magazine, This American Life, The Globe and Mail, Elle Magazine, The Walrus and Rookie Magazine.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 464 reviews
October 26, 2024
I would read Heather O'Neill's grocery list if she'd let me... I am SEATED!!
--
Edit: this was just as good as I knew it would be, given that heather o'neill is incapable of missing. only she could write a novel that has you laughing out loud as often as you feel utterly bereft. the tone of this novel is reminiscent of vonnegut, situated in a dark fantasy world. the way this illusion evolves and degrades as the novel progresses is masterfully approached.
also - no one captures the complex and often contradictory nature of adolescent girls like heather! sofia was relatable, awkward, brave, annoying, and in all ways a 'real' 14-year-old girl. I adored the Goose's narrative and the way that this storyline came to a head.
as usual, here are some great quotes:
"...don't you know dreams make a person absolutely miserable in life? You can't enjoy today because you're worried what effect it will have on tomorrow. Why? Tomorrow never actually comes, Sofia. Have you considered that?"
and, a hilarious one: "I don't want to have anything to do with those boys. I have no qualms with admitting I am superior to them. I consider myself an intellectual. And they are part of the proletariat. It is up to me to understand their condition since they are too stupid to do it themselves."
--
Edit: this was just as good as I knew it would be, given that heather o'neill is incapable of missing. only she could write a novel that has you laughing out loud as often as you feel utterly bereft. the tone of this novel is reminiscent of vonnegut, situated in a dark fantasy world. the way this illusion evolves and degrades as the novel progresses is masterfully approached.
also - no one captures the complex and often contradictory nature of adolescent girls like heather! sofia was relatable, awkward, brave, annoying, and in all ways a 'real' 14-year-old girl. I adored the Goose's narrative and the way that this storyline came to a head.
as usual, here are some great quotes:
"...don't you know dreams make a person absolutely miserable in life? You can't enjoy today because you're worried what effect it will have on tomorrow. Why? Tomorrow never actually comes, Sofia. Have you considered that?"
and, a hilarious one: "I don't want to have anything to do with those boys. I have no qualms with admitting I am superior to them. I consider myself an intellectual. And they are part of the proletariat. It is up to me to understand their condition since they are too stupid to do it themselves."
March 12, 2025
Alright, I've let this marinate for a handful of days so I finally feel ready to talk about it.
Canadian author Heather O'Neill's latest is a kind of modern fairy tale in which the daughter of a prominent intellectual mother is sent out of their occupied country with a precious manuscript written by her mother that she's promised could preserve the artistic autonomy of their native land. But the youngsters' way out of the country is a trap and our teenage main character barely escapes with her life - and without her mother's book. She wanders through the forest with a talking goose as a companion, hoping that the pages have made their way to the notorious "Black Market" and that she can stay alive long enough to find them.
Heather O'Neill's specialty is blending the horrific realities of the human condition with a nonsensical amount of whimsy, so fairy tales are firmly within her wheelhouse - especially those old-fashioned ones in which terrible things befall the characters. The sections in which our main character Sofia is travelling through the wilderness are somewhat distorted; she's clearly kidding herself about something even if we don't find out about what for a long, long time.
As such, I much preferred the flashback scenes showing Sofia and her intelligentsia mother Clara, who weren't close before the occupation by "the Enemy" (a kind of hybrid of the Russians and the Germans), but who grow attached to one another once their country has been invaded. They have a very complex relationship that Sofia is still working through as she wanders through the woods.
I had somewhat given up on really enjoying this book until there is a VERY interesting revelation toward the end of the book that recontextualizes everything we had already read before it, making you see both Sofia and her mother with new eyes.
That's what turned this into a 4 star read for me over a 2 or a 3. I haven't been able to stop thinking about what that "twist" means to the story and the mother-daughter relationship we were introduced to.
I didn't enjoy this nearly as much as When We Lost Our Heads and The Lonely Hearts Hotel, but it's provided enough food for thought to keep me feasting for days, and that's something.
Click here to hear more of my thoughts over on my Booktube channel, abookolive!
Canadian author Heather O'Neill's latest is a kind of modern fairy tale in which the daughter of a prominent intellectual mother is sent out of their occupied country with a precious manuscript written by her mother that she's promised could preserve the artistic autonomy of their native land. But the youngsters' way out of the country is a trap and our teenage main character barely escapes with her life - and without her mother's book. She wanders through the forest with a talking goose as a companion, hoping that the pages have made their way to the notorious "Black Market" and that she can stay alive long enough to find them.
Heather O'Neill's specialty is blending the horrific realities of the human condition with a nonsensical amount of whimsy, so fairy tales are firmly within her wheelhouse - especially those old-fashioned ones in which terrible things befall the characters. The sections in which our main character Sofia is travelling through the wilderness are somewhat distorted; she's clearly kidding herself about something even if we don't find out about what for a long, long time.
As such, I much preferred the flashback scenes showing Sofia and her intelligentsia mother Clara, who weren't close before the occupation by "the Enemy" (a kind of hybrid of the Russians and the Germans), but who grow attached to one another once their country has been invaded. They have a very complex relationship that Sofia is still working through as she wanders through the woods.
I had somewhat given up on really enjoying this book until there is a VERY interesting revelation toward the end of the book that recontextualizes everything we had already read before it, making you see both Sofia and her mother with new eyes.
That's what turned this into a 4 star read for me over a 2 or a 3. I haven't been able to stop thinking about what that "twist" means to the story and the mother-daughter relationship we were introduced to.
I didn't enjoy this nearly as much as When We Lost Our Heads and The Lonely Hearts Hotel, but it's provided enough food for thought to keep me feasting for days, and that's something.
Click here to hear more of my thoughts over on my Booktube channel, abookolive!
September 23, 2024
4 and a half stars, rounded up.
This book really felt like a birthday present: it was released two days before my birthday, and on the day itself, my husband took me to a reading and signing by Heather O’Neill and it was the best way I could imagine ushering in my fortieth year on this fixer-upper of a planet. Thank you, Jason, and thank you, Heather! I actually met her, Julie!!
I know I fangirl about Heather O’Neill quite a bit; her book “Lonely Hearts Hotel” is one of my absolute favorite (I got my copy signed, obviously), and she writes how I wish I did, which makes me both insane with admiration and a touch jealous. I know some people don’t like her, and that’s fine, but I love her unconditionally, so you have to humor me and my gushy reviews. Suck it!
Lost children. Art. Betrayal. The meaning of storytelling. Those are some of O’Neill’s favorite elements and themes, and in “The Capital of Dreams”, she weaves a tale that includes all of them, set in a small and forgotten European country which will soon see its peace destroyed by invading soldiers. Sofia Bottom is given a delicate mission: she must smuggle her mother Clara’s latest manuscript on a train meant to take children out of the titular capital and to safety, and thereby, preserve a bit of the culture of Elysia, which might perish under occupation. But of course, nothing is quite that simple, especially in times of war, and Sofia will be put in the delicate position of having to choose between loyalty and survival when the train stops in the middle of a forest, and she is left with no other option but to run for her life. She might be 14, but she will grow by leaps and bounds as she makes her way through the countryside, in search of both safety and redemption.
The way O’Neill manages to turn dark stories into fairytales will never cease to amaze me; I have always had a soft spot for the original Brothers Grimm versions of the classic fairytales, those that kept their ominous and often darkly sensual tone amidst the quirky magical elements, and I would bet that those are the versions she prefers as well, if the idea of a young girl wandering the woods during a war with a talking goose as her only companion is any indication. I loved the deliberate vagueness of the time or place the story is meant to be set it, because what’s being captured on the page is not unique to a specific moment or location: it’s a reality that humanity has had to live through many times, all over the world. And yes, art is often one of the few ways we have left to hold on to our humanity in times of tragedy and violence. Emily St John Mendel blurbed this book, and I think that fans of “Station Eleven” might see a similarity in spirit and message between the two novels. Art keeps us human in more ways than we imagine.
This novel is also an exploration of mother-daughter dynamics. O’Neill has often written about female characters who are motherless: Baby, Noushka and Marie were all raised by their respective fathers, and Rose was an orphan, abandoned as a baby. This is the first time the mother is living, if not present, in the main character’s life. While Clara is alive, she is not a very typical mother: during the launch, O’Neill mentioned that her main inspiration for Clara was Simone de Beauvoir (one of my heroes!) who was of the (admittedly controversial) opinion that you can’t be a full-time intellectual or artist and a mother simultaneously. Clara is not a naturally maternal person: she clearly prefers her status as notable female intellectual to her role as mother, and consequently, doesn’t put the same amount of effort towards Sofia than she does towards her manuscript. Sofia loves and admires her mother, but she doesn’t feel like her mother has much affection towards her, yet constantly strives to please her and to earn her praises – which are hard won. But the way we see all our relationships change during major upheaval (as most of us have experienced during the pandemic), and Clara and Sofia’s bond is tested in many ways by the war.
I found myself thinking of Zweig’s “The World of Yesterday” as I read about Elysia; it made me think of the Vienna Zweig wrote about and loved so much, this city of artists, writers, and intellectuals, and how its very soul was crushed by the German invasion who considered the artists to be degenerates and perverts. O’Neill was very clear that her story was inspired by WWII and that she always wanted to write something set in that time and place, and I am not surprised that in her version of such a tale, the place of art in society would be a central element. I was also thinking a lot about Irene Nemirovsky’s “Suite Française”, her famously unfinished novel about a small French town during the Occupation, which had to be smuggled as a manuscript before Nemirovsky was sent to Auschwitz. It’s been years since I have read it, but I remember being quite struck with the compassion and nuanced outlook she had captured on the page, and O’Neill realizes a similar level of finesse in building characters who are multi-faceted and complex, and who live in a time where absolutely nothing is simple.
I finished it knowing I would re-read it, probably sooner rather than later: this is the sort of book that merits another visit in order to be examined more closely. It made me think a lot about the more subtle violence that is generally experiences by women during war time, especially back then, when they were very few (if any) female soldiers: it’s certainly on a smaller scale than what soldiers faced at the front, and sometimes it is much more psychological than physical, but the bottom line is really that no one makes it through a war unharmed, even if they never touched a gun. If you are a fan of O’Neill’s writing, “The Capital of Dreams” is a worthy addition to your library, and if you are unfamiliar with her, it would be a good place to start exploring her catalogue!
This book really felt like a birthday present: it was released two days before my birthday, and on the day itself, my husband took me to a reading and signing by Heather O’Neill and it was the best way I could imagine ushering in my fortieth year on this fixer-upper of a planet. Thank you, Jason, and thank you, Heather! I actually met her, Julie!!
I know I fangirl about Heather O’Neill quite a bit; her book “Lonely Hearts Hotel” is one of my absolute favorite (I got my copy signed, obviously), and she writes how I wish I did, which makes me both insane with admiration and a touch jealous. I know some people don’t like her, and that’s fine, but I love her unconditionally, so you have to humor me and my gushy reviews. Suck it!
Lost children. Art. Betrayal. The meaning of storytelling. Those are some of O’Neill’s favorite elements and themes, and in “The Capital of Dreams”, she weaves a tale that includes all of them, set in a small and forgotten European country which will soon see its peace destroyed by invading soldiers. Sofia Bottom is given a delicate mission: she must smuggle her mother Clara’s latest manuscript on a train meant to take children out of the titular capital and to safety, and thereby, preserve a bit of the culture of Elysia, which might perish under occupation. But of course, nothing is quite that simple, especially in times of war, and Sofia will be put in the delicate position of having to choose between loyalty and survival when the train stops in the middle of a forest, and she is left with no other option but to run for her life. She might be 14, but she will grow by leaps and bounds as she makes her way through the countryside, in search of both safety and redemption.
The way O’Neill manages to turn dark stories into fairytales will never cease to amaze me; I have always had a soft spot for the original Brothers Grimm versions of the classic fairytales, those that kept their ominous and often darkly sensual tone amidst the quirky magical elements, and I would bet that those are the versions she prefers as well, if the idea of a young girl wandering the woods during a war with a talking goose as her only companion is any indication. I loved the deliberate vagueness of the time or place the story is meant to be set it, because what’s being captured on the page is not unique to a specific moment or location: it’s a reality that humanity has had to live through many times, all over the world. And yes, art is often one of the few ways we have left to hold on to our humanity in times of tragedy and violence. Emily St John Mendel blurbed this book, and I think that fans of “Station Eleven” might see a similarity in spirit and message between the two novels. Art keeps us human in more ways than we imagine.
This novel is also an exploration of mother-daughter dynamics. O’Neill has often written about female characters who are motherless: Baby, Noushka and Marie were all raised by their respective fathers, and Rose was an orphan, abandoned as a baby. This is the first time the mother is living, if not present, in the main character’s life. While Clara is alive, she is not a very typical mother: during the launch, O’Neill mentioned that her main inspiration for Clara was Simone de Beauvoir (one of my heroes!) who was of the (admittedly controversial) opinion that you can’t be a full-time intellectual or artist and a mother simultaneously. Clara is not a naturally maternal person: she clearly prefers her status as notable female intellectual to her role as mother, and consequently, doesn’t put the same amount of effort towards Sofia than she does towards her manuscript. Sofia loves and admires her mother, but she doesn’t feel like her mother has much affection towards her, yet constantly strives to please her and to earn her praises – which are hard won. But the way we see all our relationships change during major upheaval (as most of us have experienced during the pandemic), and Clara and Sofia’s bond is tested in many ways by the war.
I found myself thinking of Zweig’s “The World of Yesterday” as I read about Elysia; it made me think of the Vienna Zweig wrote about and loved so much, this city of artists, writers, and intellectuals, and how its very soul was crushed by the German invasion who considered the artists to be degenerates and perverts. O’Neill was very clear that her story was inspired by WWII and that she always wanted to write something set in that time and place, and I am not surprised that in her version of such a tale, the place of art in society would be a central element. I was also thinking a lot about Irene Nemirovsky’s “Suite Française”, her famously unfinished novel about a small French town during the Occupation, which had to be smuggled as a manuscript before Nemirovsky was sent to Auschwitz. It’s been years since I have read it, but I remember being quite struck with the compassion and nuanced outlook she had captured on the page, and O’Neill realizes a similar level of finesse in building characters who are multi-faceted and complex, and who live in a time where absolutely nothing is simple.
I finished it knowing I would re-read it, probably sooner rather than later: this is the sort of book that merits another visit in order to be examined more closely. It made me think a lot about the more subtle violence that is generally experiences by women during war time, especially back then, when they were very few (if any) female soldiers: it’s certainly on a smaller scale than what soldiers faced at the front, and sometimes it is much more psychological than physical, but the bottom line is really that no one makes it through a war unharmed, even if they never touched a gun. If you are a fan of O’Neill’s writing, “The Capital of Dreams” is a worthy addition to your library, and if you are unfamiliar with her, it would be a good place to start exploring her catalogue!
Want to read
January 20, 2025UPDATE: I reached out to the publisher and they confirmed that there will be no hardcover edition of this book in the US. ☹️
I am dying to read this book, even preordered it months ago, yet it's backordered or out of stock everywhere. What is happening?! 😭
I am dying to read this book, even preordered it months ago, yet it's backordered or out of stock everywhere. What is happening?! 😭
September 13, 2024
As a huge fan of O’Neill’s previous works, I am actually devastated to DNF this at about 50%. I was just so bored. I didn’t find anything exceptionally interesting about this, and while it had good ideas, I felt it failed to meet its promise at execution. I normally love O’Neill’s balance of whimsy and bite, but it seemed it was missing here. Even the characters felt a little flat. Maybe if I read to completion I would have felt differently, but I couldn’t bring myself to go on.
ARC provided by NetGalley
ARC provided by NetGalley
November 24, 2024
On the back cover a review says “it is a feminist adventure with all the darkness of a war novel, the charm of a fairy tale, and the heart of a coming of age story.” And yeah… thats exactly the problem. I was so excited to see a new release from O’Neill. She has been one of my favourite authors since i read The Lonely Hearts Hotel and Lullabies for Little Criminals. Her use of metaphors and dream like prose was so enchanting and different from what I had previously read. But in this book that trait of hers seems to work against the story. I found it incredibly frustrating to read as Sofia and the goose ambled along in the forest. There was a nagging feeling that O’Neil was dancing around some greater point, one which she never seemed to quite reach.
The insertion of a fictional city in real World War 2 events seemed like an odd choice. It seemed half in reality and half out of as most of her writing does, but it just didn’t work here.
It was sold as a sort of quest story but barely anything happened at all besides hiding a crucial detail of the story till the very end for some sort of dramatic effect that fell extremely short. It was repeated ad nauseam how beautiful Elysia was and how grandiose the capital was but only in very blunt terms. Even in the last 3 pages of the book she was still beating it over our heads that the capital was “very pretty”. I get it. Beautiful city. I also don’t care.
Another dead horse she beat like a drum was her mother’s indifference, cruelty, and otherwise questionable behaviour which is of course reframed at the end once Sofia “comes of age” and understands all of this as a way her mother was loving and protecting her. It just felt like the whole story was an extremely round about way to reach this conclusion.
There were interesting characters and glimpses of promising intrigue smattered throughout but ultimately I was left feeling exactly like Sofia, lost in the fog in the woods for over 300 pages.
The insertion of a fictional city in real World War 2 events seemed like an odd choice. It seemed half in reality and half out of as most of her writing does, but it just didn’t work here.
It was sold as a sort of quest story but barely anything happened at all besides hiding a crucial detail of the story till the very end for some sort of dramatic effect that fell extremely short. It was repeated ad nauseam how beautiful Elysia was and how grandiose the capital was but only in very blunt terms. Even in the last 3 pages of the book she was still beating it over our heads that the capital was “very pretty”. I get it. Beautiful city. I also don’t care.
Another dead horse she beat like a drum was her mother’s indifference, cruelty, and otherwise questionable behaviour which is of course reframed at the end once Sofia “comes of age” and understands all of this as a way her mother was loving and protecting her. It just felt like the whole story was an extremely round about way to reach this conclusion.
There were interesting characters and glimpses of promising intrigue smattered throughout but ultimately I was left feeling exactly like Sofia, lost in the fog in the woods for over 300 pages.
August 16, 2024
Only Heather could have pulled this off. It’s incredible.
October 28, 2024
If you are a Heather O'Neill fangirl like me, than "The Capital of Dreams" will fit right into your slot of odd balls. If you are not a Heather O'Neill fangirl or have not read her before, be warned that Heather O'Neill is our odd, hallucinogenic, dark fairy tale queen, and she reigns strong! Typical O'Neill magic seeps through these pages as we see a young adolescent make her way through a war, against the 'enemy." The unnamed time and place makes it seem like it could be anywhere at all and yet also eerily present day sometimes in our uncertain world. Common themes of O'Neill's come through including girlhood, lost children and broken dreams. The ideas of art keeping us human shines through, as we read art in the form of this novel.
September 11, 2024
the capital of dreams conveys the confusing feelings that come with growing up in an uncertain world. this introspective fairytale is sad, but heartwarming, whimsical, but sensible. amid tragedy, the main character clings to her sense of wonder and finds comfort in the stories from her childhood. loved the themes and execution.
November 17, 2024
Special thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a free, electronic ARC of this novel received in exchange for an honest review.
Expected publication date: Jan. 7, 2025
Heather O'Neill’s new novel, “The Capital of Dreams”, is a dark and dystopian coming-of-age story about sacrifice, creativity and hope.
Elysia is a small European country, known for their artistic creations and fantastic stories of trees that come to life and faeries that live among the roots and branches. Among all of the opera singers, musicians, artists and writers, no one is more well known that author Clara Bottom. Clara’s daughter, fourteen-year-old Sofia, has never been able to win the attention of her mother, and has spent years living in her mother’s shadow. When the war begins, Clara counts on Sofia to smuggle her life’s work, a manuscript, out of the country but, Sofia loses the manuscript after running for her life. Desperate to reclaim what she’s lost and finally earn her mother’s appreciation and respect, Sofia knows she must travel, alone, through ravaged and war-torn countries, in order to find what she’s been missing.
O’Neill is the Canadian author of “Lullabies for Little Criminals” and “The Lonely Hearts Hotel” (among others). Her unique writing style has always captivated me and her character-driven, well-developed plots stand out among the crowd. “Capital” is a coming-of-age dystopian tale that is both dark and emotional while still being both magical and fantastical.
“Capital” is dual-timeline, narrated by Sofia, in the times before the war and after. The times before focus solely on Sofia’s relationship with her formidable mother Clara, so readers can understand the choices Sofia makes on her post-war journey. There are some clues that are dropped in the current timeline (such as the piece of paper Sofia has in her pocket) which are talked about but not totally revealed until the final pages, so there is always a hint of underlying mystery hanging about as well.
“Capital” has many underlying relevant themes, including feminism, the importance of art and the many facets of a mother-daughter relationship, especially during the formative years. This is a novel that had hints of C.S Lewis (think, talking Animals) set in similar fashion to the numerous World War two novels told from the child’s perspective, with a dystopian aspect thrown in (think “Divergent”), all with O’Neill’s incomparable writing style and talent.
O’Neill’s “Capital of Dreams” is not a light read, but it will captivate and enthrall, and it checks all the boxes if you’re looking for a beautiful and creative story with an unassuming young protagonist.
Expected publication date: Jan. 7, 2025
Heather O'Neill’s new novel, “The Capital of Dreams”, is a dark and dystopian coming-of-age story about sacrifice, creativity and hope.
Elysia is a small European country, known for their artistic creations and fantastic stories of trees that come to life and faeries that live among the roots and branches. Among all of the opera singers, musicians, artists and writers, no one is more well known that author Clara Bottom. Clara’s daughter, fourteen-year-old Sofia, has never been able to win the attention of her mother, and has spent years living in her mother’s shadow. When the war begins, Clara counts on Sofia to smuggle her life’s work, a manuscript, out of the country but, Sofia loses the manuscript after running for her life. Desperate to reclaim what she’s lost and finally earn her mother’s appreciation and respect, Sofia knows she must travel, alone, through ravaged and war-torn countries, in order to find what she’s been missing.
O’Neill is the Canadian author of “Lullabies for Little Criminals” and “The Lonely Hearts Hotel” (among others). Her unique writing style has always captivated me and her character-driven, well-developed plots stand out among the crowd. “Capital” is a coming-of-age dystopian tale that is both dark and emotional while still being both magical and fantastical.
“Capital” is dual-timeline, narrated by Sofia, in the times before the war and after. The times before focus solely on Sofia’s relationship with her formidable mother Clara, so readers can understand the choices Sofia makes on her post-war journey. There are some clues that are dropped in the current timeline (such as the piece of paper Sofia has in her pocket) which are talked about but not totally revealed until the final pages, so there is always a hint of underlying mystery hanging about as well.
“Capital” has many underlying relevant themes, including feminism, the importance of art and the many facets of a mother-daughter relationship, especially during the formative years. This is a novel that had hints of C.S Lewis (think, talking Animals) set in similar fashion to the numerous World War two novels told from the child’s perspective, with a dystopian aspect thrown in (think “Divergent”), all with O’Neill’s incomparable writing style and talent.
O’Neill’s “Capital of Dreams” is not a light read, but it will captivate and enthrall, and it checks all the boxes if you’re looking for a beautiful and creative story with an unassuming young protagonist.
December 7, 2024
I’m actually all out of words for how magical Heather O’Neills writing is. The way she makes an insanely depressing situation whimsical is just simply brilliant. I will never shut up about how much I love her books.
The Lonely Hearts Hotel and When We Lost Our Heads are two of my favorite books of all time so I screamed when I saw she was coming out with a new book and it did not disappoint. Fantasy isn’t ever my go-to genre so I was a little nervous that The Capital of Dreams was being described as one but outside of two slight aspects, I wouldn’t consider it fantasy really.
We join Sofia as she navigates her new world while her country is at war; watching her grow up and survive against all odds. Devastating, spellbinding, heartbreaking, beautiful.
Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC!
The Lonely Hearts Hotel and When We Lost Our Heads are two of my favorite books of all time so I screamed when I saw she was coming out with a new book and it did not disappoint. Fantasy isn’t ever my go-to genre so I was a little nervous that The Capital of Dreams was being described as one but outside of two slight aspects, I wouldn’t consider it fantasy really.
We join Sofia as she navigates her new world while her country is at war; watching her grow up and survive against all odds. Devastating, spellbinding, heartbreaking, beautiful.
Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC!
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May 27, 2025
She said war was good because it always created new forms of art
Sofia's entire world changes when the Enemy invades her country. Her mother, Elysia's most famous writer, sends her away to escape with an important manuscript, which Sofia promptly loses and has to find again. But war has a strange way of twisting reality, and Elysia's reality is already one buried deep in fairy tales...
Feeling sorry for oneself is the impetus behind all great movements in society, all art and invention.
What a fascinating, meandering book. A musing on that liminal space between girlhood and womanhood. On war and art. On freedom and family. On mothers and daughters. On survivorhood and betrayal. On heroes and villains. On being a civilian and a woman in a country under invasion. On dreams, expectations, and reality. On art.
In many ways, a person had to be angry in order to speak eloquently. Anger was an ingredient that turned language into something extraordinary and vivid.
It has a very fairy tale meets literary feel to it, with a timeline that weaves back and forth in a dream-like state, filled with bold statements and provocative writing. It has the surrealist feel of City of Thieves with a dash of Mother Goose and a solid fistful of nihilism.
Very much a niche book, but one that worked for me in the moment, although the twist at the end definitely came as a surprise that should not have been a surprise.
Sofia's entire world changes when the Enemy invades her country. Her mother, Elysia's most famous writer, sends her away to escape with an important manuscript, which Sofia promptly loses and has to find again. But war has a strange way of twisting reality, and Elysia's reality is already one buried deep in fairy tales...
Feeling sorry for oneself is the impetus behind all great movements in society, all art and invention.
What a fascinating, meandering book. A musing on that liminal space between girlhood and womanhood. On war and art. On freedom and family. On mothers and daughters. On survivorhood and betrayal. On heroes and villains. On being a civilian and a woman in a country under invasion. On dreams, expectations, and reality. On art.
In many ways, a person had to be angry in order to speak eloquently. Anger was an ingredient that turned language into something extraordinary and vivid.
It has a very fairy tale meets literary feel to it, with a timeline that weaves back and forth in a dream-like state, filled with bold statements and provocative writing. It has the surrealist feel of City of Thieves with a dash of Mother Goose and a solid fistful of nihilism.
Very much a niche book, but one that worked for me in the moment, although the twist at the end definitely came as a surprise that should not have been a surprise.
September 30, 2024
this was heartbreakingly beautiful. heather o’neil is a powerhouse of a writer and this book was genuinely one of my favourite of the year. it made me cry, it made me laugh. it is a dark fantasy that delves into the reality of war and the resilience of children
October 1, 2024
Heather O'Neill writes like no one else! While I'm not sure if this is my new favorite (that honor still goes to The lonely hearts hotel), I still really, really enjoyed this dark fantasy fairy tale set in a fictional country being invaded where all the writers are being targeted. With a complicated mother-daughter relationship, a talking goose and a young girl tasked with getting her mother's manifesto out of the country before it can be burned, this is an adventurous tale with tons of Grimm Brothers and Lewis Caroll vibes. Beautifully and intelligently written, I loved getting to see the author talk about this latest book in person and explain some of its origins. Good on audio too! Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital copy in exchange for my honest review!
March 9, 2025
DNF-ed rather quickly, to my surprise.
Not a fan. WWII-thematics (e-fucking-nough already with this era. Sheesh!), crossed with Alice in Wonderland, with class and gender themes hamfistedly shoved in throughout. The writing was awful. I did not enjoy the choppy sentences at all. Attempts at whimsy, magical realism, and allegory simply fell flat. Not a fan of coming-of-age tales, especially idealized ones.
Unenjoyable and not recommended.
Not a fan. WWII-thematics (e-fucking-nough already with this era. Sheesh!), crossed with Alice in Wonderland, with class and gender themes hamfistedly shoved in throughout. The writing was awful. I did not enjoy the choppy sentences at all. Attempts at whimsy, magical realism, and allegory simply fell flat. Not a fan of coming-of-age tales, especially idealized ones.
Unenjoyable and not recommended.
October 1, 2024
2.5 stars since after halfway I skimmed large passages. I found it dragging on and wanted the protagonist to get to where she was going instead of reminiscing about her life before the Enemy came. Also, it was difficult to find redeeming qualities in several of the characters; only the goose was sympathetic.
April 3, 2025
Mmm, mmm, mmm. Heather O’Neill can serve it. As I reflected in my review of
When We Lost Our Heads
, her skill as a writer has only deepened and matured since its precocious and sublime debut almost two decades ago. The Capital of Dreams wasn’t as revelatory or enchanting for me, yet it was still a fascinating work of storytelling.
Sofia is a fourteen-year-old girl living in the Capital of Elysia, a fictional European country in a state of war against an Enemy in a thinly veiled WWII analogue. She finds herself lost in the Elysian countryside, a talking goose her only companion. The two of them wander as Sofia seeks out the mysterious Black Market. She hopes to recover her mother’s manuscript, which her mother dispatched to safety along with Sofia, only for Sofia to lose it in the ensuing chaos. Despite not having the warmest relationship with her mother, Sofia clings to the hope that she can somehow find the manuscript at the Black Market and then return triumphant to the Capital. Of course, that isn’t how it works.
Once again I find myself reading a book that feels strangely appropriate for our current political climate. The Enemy are portrayed as fascist aggressors (although, to be fair, more of that feels inferred from the book’s parallels to real-world history than actually stated in the text). The book’s secondary conflict is Sofia and her mother versus the Enemy’s patriarchal oppression of Elysian culture, particularly their openness to sex. Part of Sofia’s journey is, in some ways, her sexual awakening and coming of age. Through various encounters with boys around her age, a slightly older girl she once knew, and other characters, Sofia is exposed to different ideas about relationships and values.
In many ways, this book reminded me of The Curse of Pietro Houdini , which also features a child as a protagonist. Substitute Pietro for the smart-talking goose, and it’s basically the same story! OK, not really. Still, the mood is similar. Both O’Neill and Miller manage to capture the bizarre normalcy of civilian life under an occupying force. Even as Sofia wanders from place to place, she is never safe, yet there are few moments where she is in actual danger. Rather, it’s the omnipresent threat of danger, and her own relative powerlessness, that adds tension to the story.
Meanwhile, O’Neill uses this setting to ponder girlhood, womanhood, motherhood, and the narratives we create about these states of being. Clara and Sofia’s relationship is so rocky because Clara didn’t want a child. I love the complexity with which O’Neill draws these characters: there are moments where Clara expresses genuine love for her daughter as well as moments that are chilling, borderline cruel. All of this is filtered through the limited third-person perspective of Sofia’s memories, usually relayed through Sofia’s mouth to the goose, so of course, we don’t get an unbiased view of Clara. Nevertheless, O’Neill’s illustration is very much her classic characterization of a parent–child relationship where neither quite seems to have a hang on what is going on.
Similarly, the rest of the characters we meet along the way bear O’Neill’s trademark stamp of archetype and allegory. From the philosophical goose sidekick to the two boys Sofia meets early on to Celeste and, of course, Sofia’s final meet-cute with her very own manic pixie dreamgirl … all of these characters exist really just to help Sofia develop. In the end, O’Neill tells us that Sofia has to be brave enough to step into the new future ahead instead of clinging to what she left behind—mother, manuscript—a bittersweet message of optimism through gritted teeth.
I won’t say that I loved The Capital of Dreams as much as some of O’Neill’s previous works, especially When We Lost Our Heads. This was an enjoyable read, one I might revisit one day but not any time soon, and one I highly recommend for fans of O’Neill or dreamy literary fiction in general. While I’m not sure it really says anything new or bombastic, it has a journeyman feel to its craft that is sure to satisfy your literary craving.
Originally posted on Kara.Reviews.
Sofia is a fourteen-year-old girl living in the Capital of Elysia, a fictional European country in a state of war against an Enemy in a thinly veiled WWII analogue. She finds herself lost in the Elysian countryside, a talking goose her only companion. The two of them wander as Sofia seeks out the mysterious Black Market. She hopes to recover her mother’s manuscript, which her mother dispatched to safety along with Sofia, only for Sofia to lose it in the ensuing chaos. Despite not having the warmest relationship with her mother, Sofia clings to the hope that she can somehow find the manuscript at the Black Market and then return triumphant to the Capital. Of course, that isn’t how it works.
Once again I find myself reading a book that feels strangely appropriate for our current political climate. The Enemy are portrayed as fascist aggressors (although, to be fair, more of that feels inferred from the book’s parallels to real-world history than actually stated in the text). The book’s secondary conflict is Sofia and her mother versus the Enemy’s patriarchal oppression of Elysian culture, particularly their openness to sex. Part of Sofia’s journey is, in some ways, her sexual awakening and coming of age. Through various encounters with boys around her age, a slightly older girl she once knew, and other characters, Sofia is exposed to different ideas about relationships and values.
In many ways, this book reminded me of The Curse of Pietro Houdini , which also features a child as a protagonist. Substitute Pietro for the smart-talking goose, and it’s basically the same story! OK, not really. Still, the mood is similar. Both O’Neill and Miller manage to capture the bizarre normalcy of civilian life under an occupying force. Even as Sofia wanders from place to place, she is never safe, yet there are few moments where she is in actual danger. Rather, it’s the omnipresent threat of danger, and her own relative powerlessness, that adds tension to the story.
Meanwhile, O’Neill uses this setting to ponder girlhood, womanhood, motherhood, and the narratives we create about these states of being. Clara and Sofia’s relationship is so rocky because Clara didn’t want a child. I love the complexity with which O’Neill draws these characters: there are moments where Clara expresses genuine love for her daughter as well as moments that are chilling, borderline cruel. All of this is filtered through the limited third-person perspective of Sofia’s memories, usually relayed through Sofia’s mouth to the goose, so of course, we don’t get an unbiased view of Clara. Nevertheless, O’Neill’s illustration is very much her classic characterization of a parent–child relationship where neither quite seems to have a hang on what is going on.
Similarly, the rest of the characters we meet along the way bear O’Neill’s trademark stamp of archetype and allegory. From the philosophical goose sidekick to the two boys Sofia meets early on to Celeste and, of course, Sofia’s final meet-cute with her very own manic pixie dreamgirl … all of these characters exist really just to help Sofia develop. In the end, O’Neill tells us that Sofia has to be brave enough to step into the new future ahead instead of clinging to what she left behind—mother, manuscript—a bittersweet message of optimism through gritted teeth.
I won’t say that I loved The Capital of Dreams as much as some of O’Neill’s previous works, especially When We Lost Our Heads. This was an enjoyable read, one I might revisit one day but not any time soon, and one I highly recommend for fans of O’Neill or dreamy literary fiction in general. While I’m not sure it really says anything new or bombastic, it has a journeyman feel to its craft that is sure to satisfy your literary craving.
Originally posted on Kara.Reviews.
April 2, 2025
Si je trouvais le début un peu lent, la fin m'a vraiment plu!
March 23, 2025
RTC? Maybe? I don't know how much I have to say about this.
September 10, 2024
This was incredibly different from anything I’ve read lately. The unnamed “Enemy” and “Capital” made the story feel like it could be anywhere, in any timeline- which I guess was the point. Light on the fairytale aspect, the darkness was certainly there. This was heavy but told in a lighthearted way that was almost horrifying ? I’ll be thinking about this one for a long time.
Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Collins Canada for the advanced copy!
Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Collins Canada for the advanced copy!
September 5, 2024
Do you ever reach an ending of a book and think "wow this is gonna mess me up for awhile."
The Capital of Dreams is a fantastical fairy tale that follows Sofia as she tries to make her way to the black market after being sent away to the country by her mother. She has to navigate the world with her talking goose companion while keeping them both alive during a war in which their forgotten country is occupied.
It expertly shows the nuance of mother/daughter relationships, coping mechanisms, and the realities of war. Heather O'Neill lets us live in Sofia's fantasy world without shying away from the more gruesome details. It's another literary tale from O'Neill of unfortunates and survival. Definitely recommend.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Available September 10, 2024
Thank you to Netgalley and HarperCollins for an advance review copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
The Capital of Dreams is a fantastical fairy tale that follows Sofia as she tries to make her way to the black market after being sent away to the country by her mother. She has to navigate the world with her talking goose companion while keeping them both alive during a war in which their forgotten country is occupied.
It expertly shows the nuance of mother/daughter relationships, coping mechanisms, and the realities of war. Heather O'Neill lets us live in Sofia's fantasy world without shying away from the more gruesome details. It's another literary tale from O'Neill of unfortunates and survival. Definitely recommend.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Available September 10, 2024
Thank you to Netgalley and HarperCollins for an advance review copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
April 20, 2025
This is a beGRUDGING four stars because I found myself so annoyed so often at the whimsy of this book and its particular whiff of magic realism, and more than anything the sentence fragments. It’s pedantic, I know, but the heart wants what the heart wants and that’s COMPLETE INDEPENDENT CLAUSES. But also inarguably the whimsy serves a purpose — it obscures the reader from the action, yes, which is kinda what was annoying me, but in the last 30% or so of the book it also becomes clear that it's obscuring the action for the characters, too, in a coping mechanism way but also in the tender way that parents hide terrible realities from their children, which felt poignant by the end. So: four stars, even though this wasn’t to my taste, I found it valuable to move through it and found myself changed on the other side. What more can a person ask for?
December 10, 2024
The Capital of Dreams by Heather O’Neill. Thanks to @harperperennial for the gifted Arc ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Sofia is fourteen and charged with smuggling a manuscript to safety during war. She loses the prized manuscript, and is alone and needs to find her way.
This was certainly a very unique story that is a mashup of a few genres. It’s coming of age story in a time of war and trauma but reads like a dark fairy tale. There are so many great quotes and passages that make you think. While the entire story is set over war and turmoil, there is still some humor in the form of a talking goose. Lots of sad moments, but a worthwhile ending.
“What was more important? The lives of all the citizens of the Capital. Or one girl feeling loved?”
The Capital of Dreams comes out 1/7.
Sofia is fourteen and charged with smuggling a manuscript to safety during war. She loses the prized manuscript, and is alone and needs to find her way.
This was certainly a very unique story that is a mashup of a few genres. It’s coming of age story in a time of war and trauma but reads like a dark fairy tale. There are so many great quotes and passages that make you think. While the entire story is set over war and turmoil, there is still some humor in the form of a talking goose. Lots of sad moments, but a worthwhile ending.
“What was more important? The lives of all the citizens of the Capital. Or one girl feeling loved?”
The Capital of Dreams comes out 1/7.
March 20, 2025
big fan of the proletariat goose!! everything else was kinda bleh. it’s true her writing is very whimsical but i felt like this story dragged on for too long. not her best work.
March 14, 2025
Whenever she started a new book, it would seem a strangers house in an unfamiliar world. She was the girl in the stories. p39
A piece of art changes every time you approach it. There is an age when you suddenly become aware of the hidden subtexts that are right in front of your eyes but are still entirely invisible....That was the power that writers had. When you read them, the author was right there with you, sharing their ideas. As though they had been invited over for tea. p162
Heather O'Neill has given us a dark fairy tale for dark times. It is made out of myths handed down and absorbed, of mother/daughter antagonisms, of experiments with power and kindness; all our triumphant weaknesses, devoid of euphemisms. Don't get too comfortable or too addicted to the seductive voice of the storyteller. Don't count on happily-ever-after.
You don't know the things you don't know until you know them. The audience knows more about your possible fate than you could. They know which act you're in. p205
Make sure you are thinking your own thoughts, and not those of someone else. p179
Perhaps we are a race of faeries whose language only the trees can understand. p198
A piece of art changes every time you approach it. There is an age when you suddenly become aware of the hidden subtexts that are right in front of your eyes but are still entirely invisible....That was the power that writers had. When you read them, the author was right there with you, sharing their ideas. As though they had been invited over for tea. p162
Heather O'Neill has given us a dark fairy tale for dark times. It is made out of myths handed down and absorbed, of mother/daughter antagonisms, of experiments with power and kindness; all our triumphant weaknesses, devoid of euphemisms. Don't get too comfortable or too addicted to the seductive voice of the storyteller. Don't count on happily-ever-after.
You don't know the things you don't know until you know them. The audience knows more about your possible fate than you could. They know which act you're in. p205
Make sure you are thinking your own thoughts, and not those of someone else. p179
Perhaps we are a race of faeries whose language only the trees can understand. p198
November 16, 2024
Maybe 3.5. I was sucked in for the first half but the middle lost me a bit. And the ending...not sure what happened!
Read
September 22, 2024 DNF
I fall squarely in the mindset of "too many books, so little time". Unfortunately, sadly, surprisingly the newest Heather O'Neill is going to fall victim to the DNF. I was already finding it quite repetitive and therefore feeling reluctance about picking it up when I had the chance. That's never a good situation! So I skipped over the 5-star excited reviews and found one that was written with pin-point accuracy as to exactly how I was feeling. Thank you Rebecca for summing up my very similar thoughts. Boredom, flatness of characters and absence of O'Neill's usual whimsy and bite. I'm adding repetition of content all in under 100 pages. Rebecca gave me the strength to skip to the final pages of the book and fully end my time with it.
Again, a big thank you to libraries. I was incredibly tempted to purchase this one, I mean, it was a new Heather O'Neill but instead I found that my library had a copy in with no holds on it. I can safely return it now thankful for not having to have parted with money for it.
There were however two very wonderful O'Neill-esque sentences that I read that confirm her expertise in writing about women and girls so incredibly. The first one was, "That one is not born, but becomes a woman, more or less." The second, "Sometimes a war can set a woman free."
I fall squarely in the mindset of "too many books, so little time". Unfortunately, sadly, surprisingly the newest Heather O'Neill is going to fall victim to the DNF. I was already finding it quite repetitive and therefore feeling reluctance about picking it up when I had the chance. That's never a good situation! So I skipped over the 5-star excited reviews and found one that was written with pin-point accuracy as to exactly how I was feeling. Thank you Rebecca for summing up my very similar thoughts. Boredom, flatness of characters and absence of O'Neill's usual whimsy and bite. I'm adding repetition of content all in under 100 pages. Rebecca gave me the strength to skip to the final pages of the book and fully end my time with it.
Again, a big thank you to libraries. I was incredibly tempted to purchase this one, I mean, it was a new Heather O'Neill but instead I found that my library had a copy in with no holds on it. I can safely return it now thankful for not having to have parted with money for it.
There were however two very wonderful O'Neill-esque sentences that I read that confirm her expertise in writing about women and girls so incredibly. The first one was, "That one is not born, but becomes a woman, more or less." The second, "Sometimes a war can set a woman free."
February 8, 2025
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an eARC of this novel. I think my expectations were not set quite right for this book, and had they been more on target I don't think I would have picked it up. The Capital of Dreams is a fable-like tale of how young Sofia deals with the war and subsequent occupation of her home country, Elysia. Sofia's mother is a famous philosopher who seems to only come to care for her daughter once it's too late and Sofia must be sent away "for her safety." Ultimately this decision results in Sofia wandering the ravished countryside alone to avoid capture and death at the hands of the Enemy, a vaguely Russian, possibly German WWII inspired foe. Along the way, Sofia picks up a talking goose and has several fantastic brushes with creatures from local myth. Sofia's travels and reminiscences are tragic at best and outright traumatic at worst, and the entire story is terribly bleak. I did not care for this tale and its heavily pedantic take on womanhood and the inherent trauma of being female. Although the writing style was evocative, dreamlike and uncanny, with sudden switches from current to past events, I could not say I liked reading this. I think this tale has an audience out there for its introspective look at class, privilege, and womanhood, but I was not it.
June 6, 2025
If Margaret Atwood and Catherynne M. Valente would ever do a writing collab, that's how I imagine the outcome.
I should have stopped reading when it first dawned on me. Or even sooner: I should have stopped reading when it turned out that the inciting event from the blurb--Sophia losing a priceless manuscript of her mother's memoir that the entire future of their country might rely on--happens right at the start, because the greatest philosopher in Elysia can't figure out a safer way to smuggle a manuscript than hide it inside a book which she then puts in a regular suitcase, which then Sophia gets separated from right away. Why didn't they even think of hiding it anywhere between Sophia's clothes, under the coat lining or in an envelope taped to her back? Well, this way the story wouldn't have happened, so who needs to be realistic? Nobody in this book, that's who.
The author clearly wanted to write a book about current situation in Ukraine, but also make it about feminism, and also make it more universal, so we have an unnamed Enemy country taking the opportunity that World War 2 brings to invade Elysia explicitly because the women there are too emancipated: there is a whole scene of the new supreme leader of the Enemy (yes, it is capitalized throughout the book) making a speach about the debauchery that comes from women having too much rights, and it is strongly hinted that men of Elysia would buy into the narrative.
Most of the problems I had reading might come from my first language: it's very harsh on repetitions, and Heather O'Neill has exactly the kind of style that would make my literature teachers tear out handfuls of hair in frustration. Polish also doesn't have a direct equivalent of the word whimsical, so the concept just doesn't innately exist in my brain. Enter a long list of sentences marked with the same comment: "Who tf thinks like that!?" and my desperate pleading to the author to be realistic about something. I still have a nagging feeling that I could have liked this concept if it was done better: a nation trying to paint themselves as perfect victims while consistently through history having one really atrocious vice (child prostitution in case of Elysia) is a compelling topic to explore, and juxtaposing it with toxic relationship between mother and daughter sounds like a good idea; same with using surrealism to explore coping mechanisms during crisis. However, all of it requires more psychological depth than Sophia as a narrator is capable of (I'll be charitable and blame the character rather than the author), which also is uncharacteristic for a 14-year-old girl of her supposed era and status (for which I blame entirely the author).
There is one scene at the end of chapter 13 that really made a lasting impression on me. The generation gap between Sophia, her mother, and her grandmother was that small bit of something realistic that kept my hopes up. The rest--it can be compelling for people who aren't done yet with feminism derailing storytelling, or want to read about a fictionalized war while feeling like they engage with current topics.
I should have stopped reading when it first dawned on me. Or even sooner: I should have stopped reading when it turned out that the inciting event from the blurb--Sophia losing a priceless manuscript of her mother's memoir that the entire future of their country might rely on--happens right at the start, because the greatest philosopher in Elysia can't figure out a safer way to smuggle a manuscript than hide it inside a book which she then puts in a regular suitcase, which then Sophia gets separated from right away. Why didn't they even think of hiding it anywhere between Sophia's clothes, under the coat lining or in an envelope taped to her back? Well, this way the story wouldn't have happened, so who needs to be realistic? Nobody in this book, that's who.
The author clearly wanted to write a book about current situation in Ukraine, but also make it about feminism, and also make it more universal, so we have an unnamed Enemy country taking the opportunity that World War 2 brings to invade Elysia explicitly because the women there are too emancipated: there is a whole scene of the new supreme leader of the Enemy (yes, it is capitalized throughout the book) making a speach about the debauchery that comes from women having too much rights, and it is strongly hinted that men of Elysia would buy into the narrative.
Most of the problems I had reading might come from my first language: it's very harsh on repetitions, and Heather O'Neill has exactly the kind of style that would make my literature teachers tear out handfuls of hair in frustration. Polish also doesn't have a direct equivalent of the word whimsical, so the concept just doesn't innately exist in my brain. Enter a long list of sentences marked with the same comment: "Who tf thinks like that!?" and my desperate pleading to the author to be realistic about something. I still have a nagging feeling that I could have liked this concept if it was done better: a nation trying to paint themselves as perfect victims while consistently through history having one really atrocious vice (child prostitution in case of Elysia) is a compelling topic to explore, and juxtaposing it with toxic relationship between mother and daughter sounds like a good idea; same with using surrealism to explore coping mechanisms during crisis. However, all of it requires more psychological depth than Sophia as a narrator is capable of (I'll be charitable and blame the character rather than the author), which also is uncharacteristic for a 14-year-old girl of her supposed era and status (for which I blame entirely the author).
There is one scene at the end of chapter 13 that really made a lasting impression on me. The generation gap between Sophia, her mother, and her grandmother was that small bit of something realistic that kept my hopes up. The rest--it can be compelling for people who aren't done yet with feminism derailing storytelling, or want to read about a fictionalized war while feeling like they engage with current topics.
January 13, 2025
4.5⭐️ (Rounded up for Goodreads)
“Clara had written the countries most renowned feminist text, ‘Are Women People’, when she was twenty-nine years old.”
Heather O’Neill does it again! Her writing is so sumptuously lovely. Reading one of her books is like diving into a fresh fruit salad. I honestly don’t know how else to describe it. She’s been critiqued in the past for overusing similes but I find her inclusion of them both clever and endearing. They’re likeEven when O’Neill covers subjects that are infuriating, heartbreaking or disturbing she does so in ways that leaves us feeling hopeful in the end.
I won’t say too much about The Capital of Dreams but if you’re already a fan of O’Neill’s writing then you’re going to love it! However, if you’re new to her work I wouldn’t recommend starting here. Instead, try Lullaby’s for Little Criminals if you want a modern story or The Lonely Hearts Hotel if you want a historical fiction love story, or When We Lost Our Heads if you like sapphic historical fiction. In my opinion those are her three very best novels. All will be feminist “weird girl litfic” so leave your triggers at the door.
“It was as tho she were less than the boys because she was a girl, but also because she was unattractive to them. They were unable to see any worth in her. They had no interest in her as a sexual being, so they did not know the point of her.”
“Clara had written the countries most renowned feminist text, ‘Are Women People’, when she was twenty-nine years old.”
Heather O’Neill does it again! Her writing is so sumptuously lovely. Reading one of her books is like diving into a fresh fruit salad. I honestly don’t know how else to describe it. She’s been critiqued in the past for overusing similes but I find her inclusion of them both clever and endearing. They’re likeEven when O’Neill covers subjects that are infuriating, heartbreaking or disturbing she does so in ways that leaves us feeling hopeful in the end.
I won’t say too much about The Capital of Dreams but if you’re already a fan of O’Neill’s writing then you’re going to love it! However, if you’re new to her work I wouldn’t recommend starting here. Instead, try Lullaby’s for Little Criminals if you want a modern story or The Lonely Hearts Hotel if you want a historical fiction love story, or When We Lost Our Heads if you like sapphic historical fiction. In my opinion those are her three very best novels. All will be feminist “weird girl litfic” so leave your triggers at the door.
“It was as tho she were less than the boys because she was a girl, but also because she was unattractive to them. They were unable to see any worth in her. They had no interest in her as a sexual being, so they did not know the point of her.”
Displaying 1 - 30 of 464 reviews