The Hidden Machinery: Essays on Writing

by Margot Livesey

A masterclass for those who love reading literature and for those who aspire to write it. “Read everything that is good for the good of your soul. Then learn to read as a writer, to search out that hidden machinery, which it is the business of art to conceal and the business of the apprentice to comprehend.”   In The Hidden Machinery , critically acclaimed and New York Times bestselling author Margot Livesey offers a masterclass for those who love reading literature and for those who aspire to write it. Through close readings, arguments about craft, and personal essay, Livesey delves into the inner workings of fiction and considers how our stories and novels benefit from paying close attention to both great works of literature and to our own individual experiences. Her essays range in subject matter from navigating the shoals of research to creating characters that walk off the page, from how Flaubert came to write his first novel to how Jane Austen subverted romance in her last one. As much at home on your nightstand as it is in the classroom, The Hidden Machinery will become a book readers and writers return to over and over again. 

Genres: Writing, Nonfiction, Essays, Books About Books, Female Authors, Literary Criticism, Crafts

302 pages, Paperback

First published July 4, 2017

About the author

Margot grew up in a boys' private school in the Scottish Highlands where her father taught, and her mother, Eva, was the school nurse. After taking a B.A. in English and philosophy at the University of York in England she spent most of her twenties working in restaurants and learning to write. Her first book, a collection of stories called Learning By Heart, was published in Canada in 1986. Since then Margot has published nine novels: Homework, Criminals, The Missing World, Eva Moves the Furniture, Banishing Verona, The House on Fortune Street, The Flight of Gemma Hardy, Mercury and The Boy in the Field. She has also published The Hidden Machinery: Essays on Writing. Her tenth novel, The Road from Belhaven, will be published by Knopf in February, 2024.

Margot has taught at Boston University, Bowdoin College, Brandeis University, Carnegie Mellon, Cleveland State, Emerson College, Tufts University, the University of California at Irvine, the Warren Wilson College MFA program for writers, and Williams College. She has been the recipient of fellowships from the Radcliffe Institute, the Guggenheim Foundation, the N.E.A., the Massachusetts Artists' Foundation and the Canada Council for the Arts. Margot currently teaches at the University of Iowa Writers' Workshop.

Reviews

[Suzanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Have read a library copy twice now. Really got to buy my own. Love this.
********************************************

A good strong 4 stars. I liked this so much more than I have liked other books about the craft of writing and found it readable, informative, and inspirational. It also made me want to double-down on reading and re-reading a ton of classics, probably to the detriment of everything else I’ve got going on right now. Ten delightful essays from author Margot Livesey discuss how certain well-known writers did what they did in terms of characters, plot, imagery, dialogue, style, theme, and language, and how their own experiences and temperaments may have influenced their artistic journeys. Livesey also talks about how her own creative process benefitted from an understanding of the dynamics of those masters of their craft. Some of the writers she cites include Henry James, E.F. Forster, Jane Austen, Richard Ford, Flannery O’Connor, Truman Capote, John Cheever, Katherine Mansfield, Virginia Woolf, and Albert Camus. Appreciation of Livesey’s premises will probably be in proportion to one’s familiarity with the writers and works discussed here.

One essay, “Neither a Borrower or a Lender Be,” deals with the reimaging of old stories and how to adapt an well-known tale and make it new again. “Even One Day” is all about Virginia Woolf, “Gustave and Emma,” all about Flaubert’s Madam Bovary, and “Shakespeare for Writers” is . . . .self-explanatory. A few essays are more personal: Livesley explains how pieces of her own life ended up in her fiction and talks about her methods of incorporating autobiographical events into her fiction to transform them into satisfying “anti-fiction” (as she calls that place between memoir and fiction). And she covers how to navigate the shoals of research without getting hopelessly marooned there when you’re supposed to be writing (an occupational hazard for anyone with a surplus of curiosity).

I plan to read this again very soon and may even buy a copy to keep, the ultimate vote of confidence in my Home of Too Few Shelves.

[Kathleen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Margot Livesey gave a lecture at an online writing course I took years ago now, and she struck me as very real, unassuming, and chalk full of practical tips. This book is just like her that way, and I learned so much.

She’s Scottish and mild-mannered with a lovely, soft voice, so when she cuts to the quick with her words, it is intensely satisfying.

“Who do you want to be when you grow up? the grown-ups around me asked. Not you, I wanted to say …”

She touches on the well-known writing advice of E.M. Forster and Henry James, but takes it a step further.

“As I trust is obvious, I am using the phrase ‘the hidden machinery’ to refer to two different aspects of novel making: on the one hand how certain elements of the text--characters, plot, image--work together to make an overarching argument; on the other how the secret psychic life of the author, and the larger events of his or her time and place, shape that argument.”

She uses a plethora of well-known examples, from Shakespeare to Toni Morrison, describing Morrison (along with Faulkner, Paley, Cisneros) as a voice-driven writer.

“Whether a writer chooses to foreground voice, or to convey attitude in other ways, seems to be one of those choices that writers make so instinctively that it doesn’t feel like a choice. The task remains the same: to give, show, create, describe, embody attitude.”

Lists are interspersed throughout the text, about what makes a good character, rules of writing romance, and some fantastic questions from Virginia Woolf to help you discover what you are writing against or writing toward.

A discussion of fiction and anti-fiction was an eye-opener for me. She advised plotting your novel between these two poles: fiction (where behavior makes sense) and anti-fiction (which is messier and more like real life).

And she ends with her own research journey, showing just how to make the most out of your efforts without getting bogged down.

Livesey is quietly brilliant. I’m looking forward to applying the suggestions I learned here, and, of course, to reading more of her fiction.

[Diane Barnes · Rating 3 out of 5]

The sub-title should read; essays on writers, NOT essays on writing. Interesting and informative.

[Kathleen Flynn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this very much. Some of these things I had painfully figured out myself in the years of trying to write a novel (like the part about dialogue) while others offered new insights (like the part about characterization). I also liked the thoughtful things the author had to say about some classic books like Portrait of a Lady.
This is one I am going to keep handy and reread.

Update: reread it June 2020. I enjoyed it somewhat less this time, but I think the fault is not with Margot Livesey but me. I felt farther away from understanding how to write another novel.

[Graeme · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love Margot Livesey's deeply intelligent, wise, and funny personality; her book reflected those characteristics.

Her early life would sound implausible in a Victorian novel. Her father, a master at a boys' boarding school in the Scottish highlands, was fifty when she was born, and her mother, the school nurse, died when she was two.

During these years, and for as long as I can remember, my father had emphysema and smoked heavily. His false teeth were yellow with nicotine, as were the fingers of his right hand. His clothes, the two suits he wore for teaching, were threadbare to the point of embarrassment.

Her coughing, yellowed father remarried a year and a half after her mother's death, and Margot found herself "bitterly at odds" with her stepmother. Packed off to a girls' boarding school in England that she also hated, she apparently found herself at the University of York. She now seems quite normal, although she is a novelist.

Livesey has taught writing at many universities, and is currently teaching at the University of Iowa Writers' Workshop. The essays in The Hidden Machinery show us a cutaway view of the mechanisms of fiction, with chapters that have funny titles and telling subtitles, including "Writing the Life. Shaping the Novel," "Creating Characters Who Walk off the Page," "Letting Our Characters Tell and Show," and "Paying Homage."

Serious writers of fiction at all levels of experience will enjoy and benefit from her book. Readers like me will just love watching the gears go round, as she illustrates her insights with great literature, from Austen to Woolf, and her own hard-won experience.

[Jesse · Rating 5 out of 5]

I hold no real desire to write fiction, so why do I occasionally take up guides about how to write it? Because I've found that an awareness of the techniques fiction writers use makes me a better reader, & that much of the advice often can be easily applied to non-fiction writing as well (Livesey's use of Woolf to demonstrate the importance of "figuring out, as Woolf did in her letters, essays, & reviews, what our beliefs are & how we can embody them" in our writing was a real light bulb moment for my own writing projects).

In addition these essays are just as much sensitive literary analysis as it is writing advice per se; Livesey writes as perceptively on Woolf, Austen, James, Shakespeare & other authors as I've ever encountered—& much more accessibly than most. And as Livesey herself models here, writing that manages to convey a sense of the writer's own love of reading & language is the richest, & ultimately best type of writing.

"Readers need to demand beauty and truth, but they do not get to demand that novelists take care of them, or makes things easy."

[Kirk · Rating 4 out of 5]

The chapter on Jane Austen, especially highlighting Persuasion, divine!

[Chris Merola]

Solid big picture writing advice smuggled into a helicopter tour of the readings - a quaint book that reeks of MFA, the writer is good-natured which helps but this is ultimately a course companion, a book that requires a great deal of prior reading to fully experience.

The content of the book makes an implicit argument - that one can't properly study the machinery of writing unless they study the greats. And that is probably right - nonetheless, compared to A Swim in a Pond in the Rain, which IS based on a course, but invites readers in by fully sharing and exploring its texts (rather than assuming prior knowledge), this comes up short for me. Just call it a course companion! Don't pretend this is made for a wide readership if it isn't!

[Mbogo J · Rating 3 out of 5]

My rating on this reflects more on the utils I got from this book rather than its prose or content. This is a suitable read to anyone interested in or currently writing fiction. Its got a lot of practical advice on writing such as looking for newspaper stories to get a feel of how "real" stories might be and have a firm pillar to anchor your fiction on. The tone is another big plus, it was more of a supportive friend than the usual serving we get from "great writers" when they write this sort of book where they pick the tallest pedestal perch on it and talk down on us mere mortals. This would have been all good had I had any intention of ever writing fiction in future; I do not and judging by my use of the word utils you can get a feel on which side I tend to write.

I would issue an unqualified recommendation for this except for two things that did not sit well with me. One is a rather innocuous looking writing recommendation. Margot encouraged writers to do an homage to great works and write their modern take. I felt she downplayed the risks. This is dangerous terrain where one can be accused of plagiarism at worst and at best the work will be judged to be knock off version of the real deal. Writers should be wary of treading on this swampy ground. I also felt that the book should come with a bibliography of books one should have read before embarking on this book. A lot of essays read like book reports on authors Margot deemed worthy, most of which I haven't read and had to take her word as is. The essays were littered with spoilers on classics and any book reviewed and the reader who intends to read these books in future should be warned of the possibility of their plots being ruined by the summaries presented. Bearing that in mind, this has an unqualified recommendation but with an emphasis of matter paragraph outlining my reservations above.

PS: shout out to all the accountants and auditors out there. without you, the world would have been in chaos

[Jane Robertson · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Hidden Machinery refers to techniques used by writers in their writing. Examples from Jane Austen and Shakespeare among others. Very insightful and interesting. There is a list of things she learned from Shakespeare about writing. It is towards the end of the book. This is a book that merits more than one reading. Perhaps i will revisit this book after reading some of the books she references.

[Holly Woodward · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fine book with many intensely thoughtful readings of literature, and a lot of excellent advice on writing.

[Renée · Rating 4 out of 5]

Helpful, insightful essays on writing.

[Jeff Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

There's great writing wisdom here, shared generously by Livesey. "Beyond all that dialogue can accomplish in terms of characterization and plot, its mere presence on the page creates space and energy." Such insights arise from a life lived in literary prose, and what's most admirable is the book's grounding in craft specifics. That is, the lucky reader gets the best of both worlds--high insight and specific examples. Livesey reads and dissects Woolf, Flaubert, and Shakespeare as a writer, in ways that are directly useful. I've long loved Livesey's essay "Mrs. Turpin Reads the Stars" for its hands-on advice about characterization, and now we have her thoughts on the entire realm of fiction particularized.

[Alonzo Vereen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Margot Livesey’s The Hidden Machinery is a book on craft that employs close readings of both canonical and lesser known texts to teach those interested in writing fiction how to write fiction.

In the tradition of one of the most often quoted pieces of advice re: writing, Livesey shows readers how writers handle craft elements. She doesn’t really spend much time telling readers how. This strategy is both the text’s strength and its weakness.

I’ve been writing fiction for a brick now, and I’ve studied literature even longer. This isn’t the first book on craft I’ve come across. Still, I gained a lot of practical advice about writing from the book’s first five chapters. In these, Livesey provides deep analyses of texts to discuss strategies that one could use to shape a novel, create characters, write literary romances, and show instead of tell more about the fictional world. There’s also an awesome chapter that encourages writers to think deeply and critically about their own aesthetic approach and where/how/why their literature falls within the grand sweep of things.

Chapter 6-10, however, rely too heavily on both the texts Livesey analyzes and the authors who created those texts. There are lessons to be learned from the authors’ personal experiences, for sure, and Livesey points these lessons out. But the amount of time spent on these texts don’t always justify the points Livesey makes about the texts and/or writing.

All in all, if you’re a writer looking to sharpen your skills, this is definitely a book you should read. Just be prepared to learn a few tangential things along the way.

[Suzanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Author Margot Livesey shares the lessons she has learned about being a writer in this essay collection. Each section begins with a quote from a famous author such as Robert Louis Stevenson, Epicurus, or George Herbert. She also uses examples from well-known pieces of literature to illustrate her points. Other writers might have chosen to only use their own work as the examples, but Livesey has chosen to refer to works that are widely known and often considered classics as well as pulling from her own writing. It makes an interesting balance and shows how the principles of writing apply across generations of writing past and present.

There is humor and honest self criticism. Talking about a novel she attempted to write and the problems she encountered, Livesey identifies one issue as her "failure to understand that irrelevance is a sin." She compares Aristotle's claim that "All human happiness and misery takes the form of action," with the advice "Show don't tell." Everything from dialogue, setting, characters, plot - any of the pieces that go together to create a piece of writing that speaks to readers - are discussed and examples are shown and analyzed.

A useful book to read for any aspiring writer or anyone interested in the craft from the perspective of an informed reader. I read an e-book provided by the publisher through NetGalley.

[Erin Bomboy · Rating 3 out of 5]

While this is a pleasant enough collection of essays on writing and writers, it doesn't present much information that's revelatory to anyone who's studied the craft of fiction. Most of the pieces center on the work of dead white men with the occasional woman, specifically Virginia Woolf, included. Author Margot Livesey pairs an element of fiction such as plot with a writer like Shakespeare and then unpacks why certain works or writers succeed.

She clearly has thought deeply about what makes a work successful or not, and I enjoyed her careful analysis in each chapter. She calls into question conventional writing advice in her essay on fiction versus antifiction — my favorite, and the most useful for writers in the 21st century.

I gave this three stars instead of four because Livesey's continued references to her own books felt like shilling. I also think this collection would have benefited from scrutinizing more work from the latter half of the 20th century.

[Sara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Chosen to read for paid review elsewhere -- so I'll just say, I wish I'd read this 20 years ago. It's a practical experienced thoughtful take on the mechanics of writing good literary fiction for publication, particularly novels. She walks through many well-known great stories and novels (Cheever, Austen, Forster, Jane Smiley) and offers clear ways of thinking about how various approaches and techniques do or don't work in various examples, never degenerating into formulas or bulleted lists.

[Caitlin · Rating 2 out of 5]

WARNING: THIS BOOK OF ESSAYS CONTAINS MANY, MANY SPOILERS FOR CLASSIC NOVELS!

This barely had advice, it was basically just about authors this author loves and hmwhy they are awesome (with many spoilers). There is little relevant advice and I found myself falling asleep while trying to read this.

[Wally Wood · Rating 5 out of 5]

The director of the Michener Center for Writers, James Magnuson, has high praise: "There is no finer teacher of writing in America than Margot Livesey." Livesey has published eight novels. a collection of short stories, and is a professor of fiction at the Iowa Writers' Workshop. Tin House recently published her small paperback, The Hidden Machinery: Essays on Writing.

I suspect, based on the titles about writing on my shelves, that at a certain point in their careers most authors knows they have a book about writing in them. For many of us, writing about how to write is easier than creating one more novel. Also, for many of us who buy these books, it is easier to read about writing than it is to write. All that said, The Hidden Machinery is special and worth virtually any author's time. (The exceptions are those who know everything they need to know.)

Livesey's first essay begins with a quote from Robert Louis Stevenson: "Life is Monstrous, infinite, illogical, abrupt and poignant; a work of art, in comparison, is neat, finite, self-contained, rational, flowing, and emasculate. . . " What this means in practice, I think, is that even a 'slice of life' story
succeeds or fails not in how 'lifelike' it is but how carefully the author has been able to hide the machinery of fiction from the reader, and often from herself.

She writes, "I am using the phrase 'the hidden machinery' to refer to two different aspects of novel making: on the one hand how certain elements of the text—characters, plot, imagery—work together to make an overarching argument; on the other how the secret psychic life of the author, and the larger events of his or her time and place shape that argument." To illustrate, she uses works of E.M Forster and Henry James. This first essay caused me to consider (as best I can) the effect of my psychic life and the events of the time and place in the past about which I am currently writing—and the effects of current events.

Her second essay discusses creating vivid characters. "Vivid characters are not necessarily the sine qua non of memorable fiction, but they certainly a significant part of it and an enormous part of all fiction." (And as I wrote in my last blog post, they are critical in mysteries.) Livesey confesses that she has trouble creating characters that leap off the page, and has come up with a list of prompts, rules. and admonitions for herself and her students: "Name the character . . . Use myself or someone I know . . . Make her act . . . 'Bad' characters must have some strength or virtue: perfect pitch, the ability to recognize edible mushrooms . . . When creating a character very different from myself I often need to create her or him from the outside. I give the character a house, a job, activities, friends, clothes, and, in the course of doing so, I gradually figure out her or his inner life . . ."

While it is tempting to continue quoting (my copy of the book has a dozen sticky tabs marking passages), I am going to stop myself with a few of Livesey's words about dialogue: "But if all dialogue does is appear natural, then its artifice is wasted. Good dialogue serves the story. It must reveal the characters in ways that the narration cannot and advance the plot while, ideally, not appearing too flagrant in either mission. And it must deepen the psychic life of the story. We should sense the tectonic plates shifting beneath the spoken words. There is text, and there is subtext. Too much dialogue without subtext can quickly become tedious."

The Hidden Machinery has ten essays that explore various aspects of both craft and theory of fiction. In addition to Forster and James, Livesey employs Jane Austin, Virginia Wolfe, Gustave Flaubert, Shakespeare and her own work to illustrate her points. In addition to the essays about creating characters and writing dialogue, she has an essay she titled "How to Tell a True Story: Mapping Our Narratives onto the World" and "He Liked Custard: Navigating the Shoals of Research"; either one alone is worth, in my opinion, the price of admission.

While these essays will be most useful to working and aspiring authors (Francine Prose blurbs on the back jacket, "If only I'd been able to read The Hidden Machinery before I began my first novel. It would have saved me so much trouble!"), any reader with a serious interest in fiction and how it works—or doesn't—can learn from Livesey's insights as an author and teacher.

[Daniel · Rating 5 out of 5]

This review originally published in Looking For a Good Book. Rated 5.0 of 5

I was not at all familiar with Margot Livesey before reading this. When I requested this book I was on a bit of a kick to read books about writing (if you've been following my blog you can probably recall a few titles that have been reviewed here). I was also attracted to the very unusual nature of the cover for this book.

I felt a connection to the author very early on when she writes:
Because we come to reading and writing so early—as a life skill, not an art form—people often overestimate their own abilities as fiction writers. “Oh, yes, I’m thinking of writing a novel,” my fellow passengers tell me on planes and trains. As soon as we consider Serena Williams playing tennis, or Yo-Yo Ma playing the cello, we recognize the absurdity of thinking that one can easily move from audience member to performer. No one would imagine that all they had to do was listen to music and then they’d be able to play at the Village Vanguard, or visit the Metropolitan Museum regularly and then paint a masterpiece.

How succinctly she puts it! I've heard other authors say this, but never quite so simply and smartly. That she also makes the distinction between writing as an art form and (as she puts it) a 'life skill' makes tremendous sense, and this is something I have not previously run across.
I absolutely adored the essay "Mrs. Turpin Reads the Stars: Creating Characters Who Walk off the Page." "I am character handicapped," Livesey writes and notes that not being able to write vivid characters is akin to golfers who can't putt or drummers with no sense of rhythm. And yet, judging by the characters I see in so many books, there are plenty of character-handicapped authors out there. But this seemingly simple essay has more depth to it than most books. This essay alone is worth the price of the book and should be required reading in high school and college writing courses.

From her recognition of what she doesn't do well with thoughts on how to rewrite and overcome her own deficiencies, to writing prompts and rules (i.e. "Every character should have something I absolutely do not share: perfect pitch, the ability to recognize edible mushrooms") this essay - a personal reflection on writing - is packed with tremendous advice for writers of all levels.
"Neither a Borrower Nor a Lender Be: Paying Homage" is a wonderful essay touting the case for borrowing or 're-imagining' stories. There's a fine line between re-imagining and plagiarism, but Livesey's arguments are worth considering.

I could quote at length from this book. So many times I read, then re-read a sentence or a paragraph because there was so much power, so much truth in the words, and I highlighted my digital copy in almost systematic fashion. When I was done reading my digital ARC I immediately put a hard copy in my online shopping cart. I want this book handy to be able to call upon it time and again.

Looking for a good book? Anyone even slightly interested in writing should own a copy of Margot Livesey's The Hidden Machinery.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Edelweiss, in exchange for an honest review.

[Eric Sutton · Rating 4 out of 5]

My M.F.A. program requires us to read at least one craft book per term, many of which I have found useful for different purposes (something pops here and there that you haven't before considered). My favorite, now that I've finished it, is Margot Livesey's The Hidden Machinery. I enjoyed it so much for two reasons. First, Livesey strives to materialize that sometimes impossible question we have about why a book "works" the way it does. Often, we might reduce the answer to "the characters" or the author's "style," but Livesey, through her chapters on different authors and their techniques, along with writing advice from her own career, explores the subtle components that make the writing "work" so well (hence the book's title). She examines the role of research, the (sometimes good) anxiety of influence, and the need for autobiography, among other cogs, to determine the inner-workings of the machine. Again, some of it sticks and some doesn't, but I thought it a clever approach. Second, Livesey uses a study of her favorite authors to uncover the hidden machinery. One cannot tell you what makes for good writing without using models, and she chooses plenty of enduring models: Shakespeare, Austen, Forster, Morrison, Woolf. I appreciated that she wrote about her literary influences, challenging us to then find the hidden machinery in our favorites. It reminded me in that way of George Saunders' A Swim in the Pond in the Rain, almost a lecture in text form. The prose is not too didactic nor erudite, the chapters are pretty short and easy to digest, and I thought her personal asides added a comforting touch (we read about her struggles as a young writer and thus do not have to compare ourselves only to the pantheon of greats). Often I slog through craft books, especially toward the end of them, but The Hidden Machinery never belabored a point nor stuck on an author for too long, which paced the reading well. I think it's a handy guide for burgeoning writers but also readers of literary fiction who want to put a finger on what it is they like so much about their favorite books.

[MK · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not quite sure the best way to rate books like this yet but I found that I enjoyed the book and I found it to be an excellent resource for creating discussion in class.
I liked especially that the author used more than the knowledge of her own skills but turned to famous writers and cited their mastery in ways that were unique to me. Livesey's ideas didn't feel like cliche writing advice, which was refreshing.
That being said, if this was just a resource for myself without the discussions from my class, I don't know if the ideas could turn into something I could practice. They all seemed a bit vague when it came to application or experimenting. And some ideas, especially anti-fiction, felt underdeveloped and even with m whole course chiming in, we couldn't really get to the heart of what the advice meant.

[Lyndie Blevins · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was attracted to this book because… It was recommend by my MFA mentor.

This book was about the aspect of the writing craft which Livesey considers the hidden machinery of the craft of novel writing. Rather than a dry, straight forward non fiction textbook, Each of Livesey’s essays center around a concept, from the writing life, sharing, character, aesthetics, research, narratives and learning from the masters by tying in works of fiction which illustrate the concept.


Things I liked about this book I enjoy her sharing her literary knowledge against her writing experience and knowledge. I found many instances which helped me with my own work.

Why you should read this book - As a writer, you will find a rich treasure throve of advice and knowledge. As student of great literary works reading these essays will bring you a deeper appreciation of works you have loved.

[Christine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Although the author intended this book to guide writers and journalists, it is an excellent book for people who love to read!
The book has several essays about "the hidden machinery", and the author used examples from her writing, Austen, Flaubert, Woolf, and Shakespeare.
Some advice she gives: begin dramatically, create characters that "walk off the page", the importance of research, pay homage to other work, and be ambitious with language.
It was very enjoyable. I will certainly keep it within arms reach while reading my next novel.

[Randy · Rating 5 out of 5]

These are just a few of the wonders of HIDDEN MACHINERY: Clarity, wisdom, insights, gentle humor, extraordinary advise, understanding of the classics (whether you've read them or not) . . I could go on and one. And then elevating it even further is Livesey's kindness towards the reader and her self-deprecating self-reflection--which is especially astounding considering the brilliance of her novels. I loved this book.

[Megan · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best craft books I have read, Livesey takes us on little journeys into different authors and elements of craft, sharing from her own experiences. It is so comforting to hear an author share how they struggle and learn to write better, and Livesey’s writing makes me feel like I’m in a cozy seminar room being told something exciting and honest and beautiful all at once. Highly recommend to fellow writers.

[Chrissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an enjoyable book; I initially began for insight and was well rewarded but finished the book for the writing. Provided within were questions posed by other writers regarding why you're writing a novel and suggestions for understanding and organizing characters, balancing research against writing, etc. but lacking the kind of stop-and-do-this-exercises or specific, you-must-do-this rules. A book for discovery.

[Joey Meyer · Rating 4 out of 5]

There is some truly wonderful advice and insight in this book, but many of Livesey’s essays rely too heavily multi-page summarization to support her theses. When she discussed books I’ve read, this was helpful. When it was books I have not read, these long summaries do little more than distract from the main content.
Most of these essays are about 30-pages but each could have been cut to about 20.

[Karen Stensgaard · Rating 4 out of 5]

A series of essays for writers interspersed with examples from the well known authors including Austen, Shakespeare and Woolf. But my favorite chapter was the most person and at the end of the book. This details her challenge in telling the story of her relatively unknown parents and her views on research.

[Sarah Key · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved this collection of craft essays. Margot Livesey's essay, "How to Tell a True Story: Mapping Our Narratives onto the World," will probably be one that I reference frequently in fiction workshops moving forward. With that said, there were definitely moments when I disagreed with Livesey's claims and distinctions, and I thought some of the comments in the writing were culturally insensitive.