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Tangible Angels
Vanessa Cavendish keeps to herself and minds her shop by the canyon on the outskirts of Keening, Oklahoma. She has but one employee, a gothed-out rebel debutante in fishnets and a ratty tutu. Both women have their secrets to keep. But after hours, when a freak blizzard traps them together in her house, Vanessa learns how deep the troubled waters in Jeannie Ivory run. Jeannie says she invented the adopted son of a prominent Keening family. She claims he isn’t real. Claims he terrorizes her. She spins out her bizarre account of Eugene “Sewer Boy” Lamb’s unlikely rise from exurban legend to flesh-and-blood angel of polite, evangelical society. Confident, accomplished, and so beguilingly good, Eugene is everything Jeannie Ivory can never be again. Every life he touches he seems to charm, including Vanessa’s. But how much goodness can a woman tolerate, when the cost of it is paid in another woman’s dignity, sanity, and blood? All Jeannie needs is a witness. All she wants from Vanessa is a little faith. Is that too much to ask? Tangible Angels treads an imaginary line between Magical Realism and American Gothic Horror.
375 pages, Paperback
First published October 4, 2015
1 person is currently reading
About the author
Ien Nivens
4 books5 followersI am the author of Tangible Angels, an American Gothic novel about a girl who believes she has conjured a lost boy from the storm sewer system of her home town, and The American Book of Changes, a re-interpretation of the ancient Chinese divination system known as the I Ching. I am also the Eldritch Editor at Cosmic Roots and Eldritch Shores an online speculative fiction magazine.
I live in a former textile mill in the Berkshire Mountains of Western Massachusetts with my wife, the quilt artist Michelle Jensen and an under-employed cat named Barnaby.
Connect with me on Facebook (where you're most likely to find me hanging out at Fantasy & Science Fiction Writers in America), Goodreads, Twitter, Google+, and on Pinterest (at The American Book of Changes).
I live in a former textile mill in the Berkshire Mountains of Western Massachusetts with my wife, the quilt artist Michelle Jensen and an under-employed cat named Barnaby.
Connect with me on Facebook (where you're most likely to find me hanging out at Fantasy & Science Fiction Writers in America), Goodreads, Twitter, Google+, and on Pinterest (at The American Book of Changes).
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
November 5, 2015
From the very first line, Ien Nivens’ “Tangible Angels” has a very strong, very realistic voice in Vanessa Cavendish. Although Cavendish is telling the story of Jeannie Ivory, she’s also telling her own story. The relationship between these two women, both outcasts in their own ways, is so compelling that I didn’t want to stop turning the pages.
Nivens’ story is the interpersonal tale of how people, especially those who feel or see themselves as broken, relate to each other and the world around them. Vanessa Cavendish didn’t just need help running her store on the outskirts of town, and Jeannie Ivory didn’t just need a job. They both need each other, as storms, both real and emotional, trap them together. Nivens’ story is more dramatic fiction than it is magical realism, but he deftly paints a beautiful story across these genres that will engage most readers.
Nivens has created character that are extremely engaging from the very first words on the first page. Vanessa’s voice is strong and relatable and the narrator, with clever turns of phrase and a poetry of wording that at times made me smile, laugh, and even choke up. This doesn’t stop Jeannie’s voice from coming through loud and clear as the story continues to unfold. Nivens has a magical touch that lights up both lives, and makes them real. The pacing and flow of the story make this a page-turner that you won’t want to put down.
Nivens’ story is the interpersonal tale of how people, especially those who feel or see themselves as broken, relate to each other and the world around them. Vanessa Cavendish didn’t just need help running her store on the outskirts of town, and Jeannie Ivory didn’t just need a job. They both need each other, as storms, both real and emotional, trap them together. Nivens’ story is more dramatic fiction than it is magical realism, but he deftly paints a beautiful story across these genres that will engage most readers.
Nivens has created character that are extremely engaging from the very first words on the first page. Vanessa’s voice is strong and relatable and the narrator, with clever turns of phrase and a poetry of wording that at times made me smile, laugh, and even choke up. This doesn’t stop Jeannie’s voice from coming through loud and clear as the story continues to unfold. Nivens has a magical touch that lights up both lives, and makes them real. The pacing and flow of the story make this a page-turner that you won’t want to put down.
October 7, 2015
At times laugh out loud funny, heart-breakingly sad and disturbingly twisted, Tangible Angels takes you through the mind of a girl gone sideways.
It stirs up thoughts we all may have had but are probably unwilling to acknowledge. It's uncomfortable yet comforting at the same time.
There's small town charm and small town suffocation with a bit of earthy experimentation in the mix.
You'll find love. You'll find heartbreak. You'll find willing defeat and tenacious stubbornness.
And in the end, well, you'll see.
It stirs up thoughts we all may have had but are probably unwilling to acknowledge. It's uncomfortable yet comforting at the same time.
There's small town charm and small town suffocation with a bit of earthy experimentation in the mix.
You'll find love. You'll find heartbreak. You'll find willing defeat and tenacious stubbornness.
And in the end, well, you'll see.
January 3, 2016
Title: Conflicted
“Tangible Angels” by Ien Nivens
Reviewed by T’s Blogging
12/27/2015
3:38 p.m.
Seek and you will find, is the approach one might take while reading “Tangible Angels.” In the first half of the novel readers are introduced to this peculiar and haunted young woman, Jeannie Ivory, who will capture reader’s imagination. As Jeannie recounts her past, readers will find themselves sitting at the edge of their seats as they sift through the pages hoping that the mystery is unfolded sooner rather than later. Yet, what they will find is a story filled with unfinished business and confliction as the author abandons Jeannie’s story only to recount the story of Vanessa Cavendish.
Told in the first person, Vanessa, the narrator of author Ien Nivens’ “Tangible Angels,” takes an interesting approach in relaying the story. As she bounces from one topic to another, never really finishing thoughts, readers will find themselves submerged knee deep in her sporadic storytelling. Unlike most books that stay true to an orthodox flow (beginning, middle, and end), Nivens allows Vanessa to tell the story in pieces, which makes it sometimes confusing but then again realistic. It is this realistic approach that makes it hard to abandon the book despite the one major hang up; abandoning the intriguing and unforgettable story of Jeannie, only to pick up with Vanessa’s troubled past, and then rushing to plug the story by bringing Jeannie back in Part 4.
At some point readers may draw the assumption that there is a connection between Jeannie and Vanessa, but unfortunately it never becomes clearly apparent. Was this story about two troubled souls or a crazed angel that was tangible? Or perhaps it wasn’t about either. One thing is for certain, Nivens has the foundation of a great story, but the unstableness within the story inadvertently sucks the reader’s ability to fall in love with it; as well as the editing errors that added to the misunderstanding of sections.
I give “Tangible Angels” 3 out of 5 stars.
Happy Reading
T’s Blogging
“Tangible Angels” by Ien Nivens
Reviewed by T’s Blogging
12/27/2015
3:38 p.m.
Seek and you will find, is the approach one might take while reading “Tangible Angels.” In the first half of the novel readers are introduced to this peculiar and haunted young woman, Jeannie Ivory, who will capture reader’s imagination. As Jeannie recounts her past, readers will find themselves sitting at the edge of their seats as they sift through the pages hoping that the mystery is unfolded sooner rather than later. Yet, what they will find is a story filled with unfinished business and confliction as the author abandons Jeannie’s story only to recount the story of Vanessa Cavendish.
Told in the first person, Vanessa, the narrator of author Ien Nivens’ “Tangible Angels,” takes an interesting approach in relaying the story. As she bounces from one topic to another, never really finishing thoughts, readers will find themselves submerged knee deep in her sporadic storytelling. Unlike most books that stay true to an orthodox flow (beginning, middle, and end), Nivens allows Vanessa to tell the story in pieces, which makes it sometimes confusing but then again realistic. It is this realistic approach that makes it hard to abandon the book despite the one major hang up; abandoning the intriguing and unforgettable story of Jeannie, only to pick up with Vanessa’s troubled past, and then rushing to plug the story by bringing Jeannie back in Part 4.
At some point readers may draw the assumption that there is a connection between Jeannie and Vanessa, but unfortunately it never becomes clearly apparent. Was this story about two troubled souls or a crazed angel that was tangible? Or perhaps it wasn’t about either. One thing is for certain, Nivens has the foundation of a great story, but the unstableness within the story inadvertently sucks the reader’s ability to fall in love with it; as well as the editing errors that added to the misunderstanding of sections.
I give “Tangible Angels” 3 out of 5 stars.
Happy Reading
T’s Blogging
December 21, 2015
I was provided a free copy of this e-book in exchange for an honest review.
Tangible Angels by Ien Nivens: The link between Vanessa and Jeannie is substantial, even from moment one you feel they are connected through hardships and more. You follow along with Vanessa and learn of her past and present while she comes to grips with this broken soul of Jeannie’s. I really don’t want to give anything away about the story, any more than the summary gives, so look elsewhere for spoilers.
I got to be honest, it was real hard to get into this book. It took a good few chapters to actually start to enjoy and follow the story. (An for me that’s really something, if it doesn’t catch and hold my attention in the first few pages, I’m out of there…) But… once you do get into the story, you get swept away with Jeannie Ivory and how she brought to life Eugene Lamb.
I think because it was so hard for me to get into this I didn’t rate it higher, you really gotta be in a particular mindset to read this tale, and if you aren’t then don’t try. I wouldn’t discourage anyone from picking up Tangible Angels, but it’s just not everyone’s cup of tea.
Tangible Angels by Ien Nivens: The link between Vanessa and Jeannie is substantial, even from moment one you feel they are connected through hardships and more. You follow along with Vanessa and learn of her past and present while she comes to grips with this broken soul of Jeannie’s. I really don’t want to give anything away about the story, any more than the summary gives, so look elsewhere for spoilers.
I got to be honest, it was real hard to get into this book. It took a good few chapters to actually start to enjoy and follow the story. (An for me that’s really something, if it doesn’t catch and hold my attention in the first few pages, I’m out of there…) But… once you do get into the story, you get swept away with Jeannie Ivory and how she brought to life Eugene Lamb.
I think because it was so hard for me to get into this I didn’t rate it higher, you really gotta be in a particular mindset to read this tale, and if you aren’t then don’t try. I wouldn’t discourage anyone from picking up Tangible Angels, but it’s just not everyone’s cup of tea.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews