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Bellevue Square
What happens when the sense you've made of things stops making sense?
Winner of the 2017 Scotiabank Giller Prize
Jean Mason has a doppelganger.
She's never seen her, but others* swear they have.
*others | noun. A peculiar collection of drug addicts, scam artists, philanthropists, philosophers and vagrants – the regulars of Bellevue Square.
Jean lives in downtown Toronto with her husband and two kids. The proud owner of a thriving bookstore, she doesn’t rattle easily – not like she used to. But after two of her customers insist they’ve seen her double, Jean decides to investigate. Curiosity grows to obsession and soon Jean’s concerns shift from the identity of the woman, to her very own.
Funny, dark and surprising, Bellevue Square takes readers down the existentialist rabbit hole and asks the question: what happens when the sense you’ve made of things stops making sense?
275 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 19, 2017
248 people are currently reading
4356 people want to read
About the author
Michael Redhill
33 books168 followersAka Inger Ash Wolfe.
Michael Redhill is an American-born Canadian poet, playwright and novelist.
Born in Baltimore, Maryland, Redhill was raised in the metropolitan Toronto, Ontario area. He pursued one year of study at Indiana University, and then returned to Canada, completing his education at York University and the University of Toronto. He was on the editorial board of Coach House Press from 1993 to 1996, and is currently the publisher and editor of the Canadian literary magazine Brick.
His play, Building Jerusalem, depicts a meeting between Karl Pearson, Augusta Stowe-Gullen, Adelaide Hoodless, and Silas Tertius Rand on New Year's Eve night just prior to the 20th century.
Michael Redhill is an American-born Canadian poet, playwright and novelist.
Born in Baltimore, Maryland, Redhill was raised in the metropolitan Toronto, Ontario area. He pursued one year of study at Indiana University, and then returned to Canada, completing his education at York University and the University of Toronto. He was on the editorial board of Coach House Press from 1993 to 1996, and is currently the publisher and editor of the Canadian literary magazine Brick.
His play, Building Jerusalem, depicts a meeting between Karl Pearson, Augusta Stowe-Gullen, Adelaide Hoodless, and Silas Tertius Rand on New Year's Eve night just prior to the 20th century.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,170 reviews
September 30, 2017
I have no clue what just happened. I have no clue how to feel about it. I have no clue if Redhill's further books will explain it further or less. I am not sure if I liked it or not, but i feel like that is the sign of good writing.
October 4, 2017
2.5* - This story starts with a great idea but quickly moves toward the bizarre. By the time I was a third of the way in, it became apparent that this was going in a different direction than what I was expecting so I adjusted my expectations and read on but I could never really catch ground with this book. I have two main issues. The first is the rambling nature of the storytelling. This may not be an issue for some people but it became irritating to me as the book progressed. My second issue was the style of writing (not the quality - just the style). It was written in such a simple basic style that I had to resist the urge not to just skim over the text. I probably would have if it wasn't for the fact that I was desperately trying to connect with the story. No luck there. I was off balance for the whole book. I never knew what was real and what wasn't. I'm sure that was a deliberate technique on the author's part and he was very successful with that but it prevented me from engaging with any of the characters. I have to give the author credit for the concept and the many layers of story he constructed to write this book. I don't know how he kept track of it himself. It just wasn't a great read for me.
October 13, 2018
Last fall, Michael Redhill’s Bellevue Square won the Giller Prize, one of the most prestigious (and, at $100,000, generous) literary prizes in Canada. I’d love to have been a fly on the wall at the jury deliberations, just to hear some convincing arguments for the book’s quality.
It’s not bad – it’s certainly readable. And I enjoyed the descriptions of Toronto people and landmarks. But it’s missing some essential ingredient to make it really… special.
Jean Mason, a Toronto bookstore owner, hears that someone who looks exactly like her has been seen several times in Kensington Market.
(For those who don’t know Toronto, the market is a bohemian neighbourhood on the edge of Chinatown, now frequented by a mix of hipsters, vegans, artists and the occasional derelict. Fun fact #1: my grandparents owned a house on the corner of Bellevue Square, so while growing up, my brothers and I would often play in the park. Fun fact #2: I’m currently writing this review a few blocks away from the square!)
Jean investigates and soon enough meets some people who tell her they’ve seen her doppelganger, someone named Ingrid Fox.
Suddenly a few of these people start disappearing. Has this Ingrid killed them? And if so, is Jean next?
Redhill has woven a complex narrative that will keep you on your toes. As some details were revealed, I found myself rereading certain passages and questioning what Jean has told us. It helps to know that Redhill is also the author of a series of mystery novels, which he writes under the pen name of Inger Ash Wolfe. And it also helps to think of the title, Bellevue Square, very carefully. What associations does the name “Bellevue” have?
The author, who’s also a poet, offers up some startling images. For instance, here he is describing a statue of the actor Al Waxman (see picture above), who starred in the long-running TV series The King Of Kensington, in the square:
New faces sit on the bench beside the white-capped Al Waxman statue. Bronze is a cruel material. It makes you look that little bit deader.
“Makes you look that little bit deader”? So true. And it’s an image that nicely dovetails with the book’s themes too.
I didn’t anticipate where the novel went in the second half, but it made me consider the first half a bit of a cheat. Especially the murders or disappearances, which aren’t sufficiently explained.
Still, there are some suspenseful scenes, some mind-bending ones where you’ll question what’s real and what’s not, and a couple of fascinating bits of information involving science.
In the author notes at the end, Redhill tells us that this is the first book in a projected triptych of novels called Modern Ghosts. That’s another clue to how we can read the book, I suppose. But I’m not sure I’m intrigued enough to read the next two.
December 10, 2017
This is the first David Lynch movie I've ever liked.
March 29, 2019
UMMMMMMMMMMMM..........
So I finished the book.
Read. The. Whole. Thing.
Still have no idea what took place between these pages.
***********ARC FROM GIVEAWAY***********
So I finished the book.
Read. The. Whole. Thing.
Still have no idea what took place between these pages.
***********ARC FROM GIVEAWAY***********
November 12, 2017
Thank God that’s over. It got marginally better about halfway through, and I thought the book had finally found its rhythm, but no. Then it just became more and more bizarre. I didn’t enjoy this book at all. If it wins the Giller, I may have to boycott the award in future!
August 15, 2017
On May 15th I did a tally of all the people I had individually witnessed in Bellevue Square, comers, goers, and stayers. Among my most interesting sightings was a drunken teenager making out with the Al Waxman statue, as well as a man sitting in the grass with a bottle of Vaseline and a single, disgusting Q-tip, which he inserted into his nostrils loaded with petroleum jelly. I also saw people getting each other off under blankets and a nudist who was ushered out of the park by police officers. To be precise, by the middle of May, Ingrid Fox had not been 4,233 people.
I was so happy to have received an ARC of Bellevue Square (I have swooned over Michael Redhill's writing before), but having finished it, this is one of those times when I really wish I could read a few post-publication interviews with the author or find some professional reviews in order to gain context: I feel like I've missed something here, and as I found myself too busy to sit down to a decent read-through over the past few days, there is every chance that my brain just wasn't properly following along. Even so, I found this book to be so interesting: full of humour and menace and intrigue. I did learn in my internet trawling that this title is “the first panel of a projected triptych titled Modern Ghosts”, and I'm looking forward to whatever comes next in this project: Redhill is always worth reading. (I know I'm not supposed to quote from ARCs but I can't help myself and will add the caveat that these excerpts may not be in their final forms.)
Crazy is normal. I've been crazy before and I'll be crazy again. It's everyone's biggest secret: those times they wondered if they'd lost it and those times they knew they had. Memories of choking on tears, alone in a dorm room three time zones away from your parents. Driving way too fast after losing a job. Cheated on. And you must be crazy if you can't love the baby. But then, one day, you love the baby. There are so many books with crazy main characters, too. Don Quixote is not the only one. Ahab has borderline personality disorder; George Samsa, persecution mania. The Cat in the Hat is clearly batshit.
Jean Mason owns a bookshop called Bookshop (I do subtlety in other areas of my life) in downtown Toronto, and one day, customers start mistaking her for someone else; insisting that she had just been in Kensington Market sporting different clothes and a shorter hairstyle. Jean becomes obsessed with finding her strange twin and she takes up an observation post in Bellevue Square; hoping this other, this Ingrid Fox, will show up in the park as she has apparently been wont to do. As Jean lies unconvincingly about her activities to her ex-cop husband and engages in increasingly bizarre behaviour in order to confront her doppelgänger, it becomes unclear whether she's putting herself in physical danger; unclear whether Ingrid Fox even exists. I don't want to say much more than that about the plot.
In a way, I'm an ideal reader for Bellevue Square: I also work in a bookshop and enjoyed reading about Jean's exploits there; especially liked that she keeps books on conspiracy theories and fake science on an unreachable top shelf so customers have time to rethink their “life choices” as they hunt for a stepstool (ha!). As a particularly solipsistic adolescent, I liked everything in this book about the nature of consciousness; from Descartes to Heisenberg, ancestor simulation, revisiting the familiar idea of doppelgängers to learning about the Llorona; all right up my alley. I always appreciate when Canadian authors highlight Canadiana: I was probably lost by my mother in a Dominion as a child; I buy donuts from Tim's, with loonies; get my prescriptions at Shopper's. I found Jean's voice to be totally relatable even if I didn't always understand her actions, and I liked this feeling of "she's like me, but nothing like me". This all should have been a homerun for this ideal reader, but it wasn't quite. I found Bellevue Square to be consistently interesting, but I don't know if it added up to much; perhaps it will feel elevated in the context of the next two volumes in the Modern Ghosts series. Rounding up to four stars.
May 27, 2018
I know this must be a worthwhile book. It is currently long listed for the Giller prize and has many favourable reviews. It started out for me with an interesting premise. A woman sees her identical self in the vicinity of a market and adjacent park in Toronto, after a few others have mistaken her for this person. This vision, if it is one, may be a doppelganger, often said to forecast imminent death in folklore. Does this identical person actually exist or is it all a hallucination?
After some internet searches I learned this condition is a rare medical phenomenon thought to be connected with seizures or schizophrenia. It takes us into the mind of Jean Marsh, and her thought processes and symptoms of mental illness. So far so good, but then it became increasingly bizarre.
I kept reading to the end, struggled with the story, but sorry, just don't get it. I also don't get the purpose later in the book where the doppelgänger has the same name used by the author as a pseudonym when he writes mystery books.
After some internet searches I learned this condition is a rare medical phenomenon thought to be connected with seizures or schizophrenia. It takes us into the mind of Jean Marsh, and her thought processes and symptoms of mental illness. So far so good, but then it became increasingly bizarre.
I kept reading to the end, struggled with the story, but sorry, just don't get it. I also don't get the purpose later in the book where the doppelgänger has the same name used by the author as a pseudonym when he writes mystery books.
December 10, 2017
I'm not entirely sure what just happened here but I am intrigued; especially considering there are to be other related novels coming along soon?
Jean owns a book store and one day a customer tells her that she saw someone who looks just like her in Kensington Market. Jean quickly becomes obsessed with meeting her twin but things proceed to get quite weird. Quite, quite weird.
The prose is very simple but there is a lot going on with regards to identity, reality, and consciousness. It's also unabashedly Canadian, or rather Torontonian. Glad for that since it at least puts your feet on the ground somewhere!
I need to read this one again. With a notepad.
Jean owns a book store and one day a customer tells her that she saw someone who looks just like her in Kensington Market. Jean quickly becomes obsessed with meeting her twin but things proceed to get quite weird. Quite, quite weird.
The prose is very simple but there is a lot going on with regards to identity, reality, and consciousness. It's also unabashedly Canadian, or rather Torontonian. Glad for that since it at least puts your feet on the ground somewhere!
I need to read this one again. With a notepad.
November 24, 2017
Whaaaaaaat.
January 24, 2018
What a brilliant accomplishment!
I can't believe how well Mr. Redhill gets us into the mind of someone experiencing mental illness. I think that's a really tough thing to do, and so often it fails. To me, Bellevue Square was a resounding success in this way.
The ending was insane. But wasn't that the point?? I thought it was brilliant.
One thing I can't stop thinking about -- and I'm walking up to the line of spoilers here -- is that Redhill used his own alternate name (Inger Ash Wolfe) as a character name in the book. I found that intriguingly confusing, and can't get that detail out of my head.
I was amazingly surprised by this book, and feel it absolutely is deserving of the Giller Prize (which may be a bit unfair, as at this point, I haven't read the others).
I can't believe how well Mr. Redhill gets us into the mind of someone experiencing mental illness. I think that's a really tough thing to do, and so often it fails. To me, Bellevue Square was a resounding success in this way.
The ending was insane. But wasn't that the point?? I thought it was brilliant.
One thing I can't stop thinking about -- and I'm walking up to the line of spoilers here -- is that Redhill used his own alternate name (Inger Ash Wolfe) as a character name in the book. I found that intriguingly confusing, and can't get that detail out of my head.
I was amazingly surprised by this book, and feel it absolutely is deserving of the Giller Prize (which may be a bit unfair, as at this point, I haven't read the others).
October 9, 2017
Bellevue Square is the latest book from Michael Redhill. It's also a Scotiabank Giller Prize Finalist.
The premise? A customer in Jean Mason's bookstore tells her that she has a double, a doppelganger. Jean is intrigued and heads to Bellevue Square (a park) to see if she too can see this woman.
I was intrigued by the idea of the double. And my interest was further piqued by this early line..."I put the phone away and at that exact moment a woman I would later be accused of murdering walked into my shop."
And with those two pieces, I thought I was in for a mystery. And I was - but the book certainly did not unfold in any way I could have predicted. There is so much more to Jean's tale. The facade that Jean presents to the world - and her family - has cracks in it.
Redhill's writing in Bellevue Square is fiendishly clever. The reader must pay close attention as Jean's world turns on a dime. What is truth? What is fiction? There is no way to tell as we see everything from Jean's viewpoint - and she is most definitely an unreliable narrator. Her mind is frightening, yet brilliant.
What I really enjoyed were the conversations and interactions between Jean and those that frequent Bellevue Square. While somewhat nonsensical at times, these interactions seem the closest to 'real' for Jean, often overshadowing the relationship with her husband and children.
Take your time reading Bellevue Square. There is much to consider as Jean seeks answers. There are hints and references dropped along the way that had me forming in my mind what I thought was 'the answer.' And I was wrong. I think I hooted out loud when I realized what was happening in the final chapters. I don't want to say anymore and spoil the book, but overlapping is a word I'll throw out there. I am still not sure if I completely 'got' everything that Redhill has woven into his book, as some of it is a bit confusing. In an interview with the Globe and Mail, Redhill mentions that Bellevue Square explores loss and "is about the surprising (and disturbing) plasticity of the self and what happens when the sense you've made of things stops making sense."
Bellevue Square is set in the streets and area around Kensington Market in Toronto. Redhill has lived and worked in the Toronto area for many years and his descriptions benefit from his first hand observations. References to Canadiana - Dominion grocery stores, Tim Hortons, Shopper's Drug Mart will be familiar to Canuck readers.
Inger Ash Wolfe is Redhill's nom de plume. I was delighted to find references to the Hazel Micallef books. And it was only on reading the acknowledgements that I discovered Bellevue Square is "part one of a Modern Ghost, a triptych." I will pick up the next book, as I truly want to see where and what could transpire next.
Thought provoking and fiendishly clever.
The premise? A customer in Jean Mason's bookstore tells her that she has a double, a doppelganger. Jean is intrigued and heads to Bellevue Square (a park) to see if she too can see this woman.
I was intrigued by the idea of the double. And my interest was further piqued by this early line..."I put the phone away and at that exact moment a woman I would later be accused of murdering walked into my shop."
And with those two pieces, I thought I was in for a mystery. And I was - but the book certainly did not unfold in any way I could have predicted. There is so much more to Jean's tale. The facade that Jean presents to the world - and her family - has cracks in it.
Redhill's writing in Bellevue Square is fiendishly clever. The reader must pay close attention as Jean's world turns on a dime. What is truth? What is fiction? There is no way to tell as we see everything from Jean's viewpoint - and she is most definitely an unreliable narrator. Her mind is frightening, yet brilliant.
What I really enjoyed were the conversations and interactions between Jean and those that frequent Bellevue Square. While somewhat nonsensical at times, these interactions seem the closest to 'real' for Jean, often overshadowing the relationship with her husband and children.
Take your time reading Bellevue Square. There is much to consider as Jean seeks answers. There are hints and references dropped along the way that had me forming in my mind what I thought was 'the answer.' And I was wrong. I think I hooted out loud when I realized what was happening in the final chapters. I don't want to say anymore and spoil the book, but overlapping is a word I'll throw out there. I am still not sure if I completely 'got' everything that Redhill has woven into his book, as some of it is a bit confusing. In an interview with the Globe and Mail, Redhill mentions that Bellevue Square explores loss and "is about the surprising (and disturbing) plasticity of the self and what happens when the sense you've made of things stops making sense."
Bellevue Square is set in the streets and area around Kensington Market in Toronto. Redhill has lived and worked in the Toronto area for many years and his descriptions benefit from his first hand observations. References to Canadiana - Dominion grocery stores, Tim Hortons, Shopper's Drug Mart will be familiar to Canuck readers.
Inger Ash Wolfe is Redhill's nom de plume. I was delighted to find references to the Hazel Micallef books. And it was only on reading the acknowledgements that I discovered Bellevue Square is "part one of a Modern Ghost, a triptych." I will pick up the next book, as I truly want to see where and what could transpire next.
Thought provoking and fiendishly clever.
December 4, 2017
This messed with my head. I'm not sure if it caused a psychotic break or something.
I had an experience 25+ years ago where people at a mall kept asking how I changed my hair so fast. A doppelgänger on the loose. I was terrified having just read about the perils of seeing your doppelgänger. I did glimpse her slightly before darting away. I wonder sometimes if this is the cause of bad luck in my life since. Even so I'm still alive so far.
It's tough to review this without pushing my theories on others or using spoiler tags. I can see how this won the Giller. I can also see how people disliked this book and gave it one star. For me it was a wild almost hallucinogenic ride. This book leaves the reader with a lot to consider and they may have to reread it.
For now I'll go put a microwave in the leg for everyone that's hungry.
I had an experience 25+ years ago where people at a mall kept asking how I changed my hair so fast. A doppelgänger on the loose. I was terrified having just read about the perils of seeing your doppelgänger. I did glimpse her slightly before darting away. I wonder sometimes if this is the cause of bad luck in my life since. Even so I'm still alive so far.
It's tough to review this without pushing my theories on others or using spoiler tags. I can see how this won the Giller. I can also see how people disliked this book and gave it one star. For me it was a wild almost hallucinogenic ride. This book leaves the reader with a lot to consider and they may have to reread it.
For now I'll go put a microwave in the leg for everyone that's hungry.
June 11, 2019
Such a confusing literary ride in the mind of Jean
Short book yet dense and with various aspects
The mind is a maze and reality is sometimes a figment of our imagination
A good book
Not sure why it won the Giller
Short book yet dense and with various aspects
The mind is a maze and reality is sometimes a figment of our imagination
A good book
Not sure why it won the Giller
October 25, 2017
Well that was weird. It was like looking through a window at the reflection of someone on tv performing an illusion.
The setting is Bellevue Square, in Toronto, a park where people on the fringe hang out: the eccentric, homeless, mentally ill and other down-on-their-luck characters. Together they make up this community of misfits, and each person has their own niche.
The protagonist is a married woman, mother of two, owner of a bookstore, who is in pursuit of her doppelganger, who allegedly hangs out in Bellevue Square.
The rest is just plain weird. As a reader, I was always trying to regain my footing as reality tilted and shifted and redefined itself over and over again.
The book is clever and engaging, with plenty of jaw-dropping twists. But I have no idea what happened in the end. I'm sure cleverer people than me managed to figure it all out, so I'm going to ask one of them.
Recommended to all my friends who have an interest in all things meta. You know who you are!
The setting is Bellevue Square, in Toronto, a park where people on the fringe hang out: the eccentric, homeless, mentally ill and other down-on-their-luck characters. Together they make up this community of misfits, and each person has their own niche.
The protagonist is a married woman, mother of two, owner of a bookstore, who is in pursuit of her doppelganger, who allegedly hangs out in Bellevue Square.
The rest is just plain weird. As a reader, I was always trying to regain my footing as reality tilted and shifted and redefined itself over and over again.
The book is clever and engaging, with plenty of jaw-dropping twists. But I have no idea what happened in the end. I'm sure cleverer people than me managed to figure it all out, so I'm going to ask one of them.
Recommended to all my friends who have an interest in all things meta. You know who you are!
September 26, 2017
I received this book from Goodreads in exchange for an honest review.
I'm so confused! This book is so well written but for most of it, I had no idea what was going on. Is Jean a real person.... no clue! Is Ingrid a real person.... no clue! Did those other people really die.... no clue! I couldn't even begin to rationalize what actually went on in this book. So this book while it is ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ in the writing department, I gave it ⭐️⭐️⭐️ because it infuriates me to no end when I cannot make heads or tails of what the point of this book was about. Everyone in this book was crazy and now I'm pretty sure that I am too.
I'm so confused! This book is so well written but for most of it, I had no idea what was going on. Is Jean a real person.... no clue! Is Ingrid a real person.... no clue! Did those other people really die.... no clue! I couldn't even begin to rationalize what actually went on in this book. So this book while it is ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ in the writing department, I gave it ⭐️⭐️⭐️ because it infuriates me to no end when I cannot make heads or tails of what the point of this book was about. Everyone in this book was crazy and now I'm pretty sure that I am too.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 29, 2017
Complex, scary dark, smart, funny and engaging. This is what a good novel does to you: makes you keep guessing and doubting what is real and what is imagined till the very end.
Enjoyed recognizing familiar Torontonian locations: Pamenar cafe, Moonbean cafe and Kengsinton Market. I listened to the audiobook version. One day took a walk in Kengsinton market over my lunch break listening to Bellevue Square. Freaked me right out!
Would read more by Redhill (and by his pseudonym). Strongly recommended.
Enjoyed recognizing familiar Torontonian locations: Pamenar cafe, Moonbean cafe and Kengsinton Market. I listened to the audiobook version. One day took a walk in Kengsinton market over my lunch break listening to Bellevue Square. Freaked me right out!
Would read more by Redhill (and by his pseudonym). Strongly recommended.
March 5, 2018
I would actually rate this book at 3.5 stars if I could. This despite the fact that I almost quit reading about halfway through it. At that point, it seemed like just another domestic noir novel and I couldn’t see why it was a Giller prize finalist—what could it possibly offer to deserve that? But I was home on a snowy day, appointments cancelled, coffee waiting, reading blanket at the ready, and I decided that I would give it a few more pages.
Suddenly things took a completely unexpected turn. I found myself questioning everything. The rest of the book slaloms back and forth between realities until I couldn’t distinguish between them anymore. I was hooked.
And then it ended. Those of you who know me, know that I like messy and ambiguous endings. Except this one. I was left absolutely baffled and unsure what the point of the whole exercise actually was. This was too much even for me.
Apparently there are two more similar books to come. I doubt that I will bother with them after this experience.
Suddenly things took a completely unexpected turn. I found myself questioning everything. The rest of the book slaloms back and forth between realities until I couldn’t distinguish between them anymore. I was hooked.
And then it ended. Those of you who know me, know that I like messy and ambiguous endings. Except this one. I was left absolutely baffled and unsure what the point of the whole exercise actually was. This was too much even for me.
Apparently there are two more similar books to come. I doubt that I will bother with them after this experience.
November 11, 2025
What the hell did I just read?!?!
Wow.
I think this is one that is going to linger for a while. I'm still trying to process what exactly is going on. Unreliable narrators, psychological twists and turns that make you question your reality and the reality of the characters. This is a novel that I'll probably revisit a few times to try to unlock it's mysteries, but I can definitely see why it won the Giller prize.
Wow.
I think this is one that is going to linger for a while. I'm still trying to process what exactly is going on. Unreliable narrators, psychological twists and turns that make you question your reality and the reality of the characters. This is a novel that I'll probably revisit a few times to try to unlock it's mysteries, but I can definitely see why it won the Giller prize.
November 15, 2017
You’re going to want to dedicate an entire 48 hour stretch to read this one. I’m equal parts thrilled and totally boggled.
January 22, 2018
The writing is superb. The story makes you question your own sanity.
I hope the next two books help me understand wtf just happened.
I hope the next two books help me understand wtf just happened.
September 2, 2018
Visit the locations in the novel
This is going to be one of those books which divides and conquers. Some will love it, others won’t get it. I wasn’t sure what camp I was in for a while reading this and it’s only afterwards that I realise I’m in the first. It’s a surreal read but one which really gets inside your head and messes with your thoughts which is apt given the themes in the book.
I had to read this slowly and then often would flick back to something I thought I’d read but wasn’t sure anymore. Again, very apt for the themes of mental health in the book. I felt the writing was sparse and deliberate in order to bring out the threads of identity, reality, and consciousness.
The book is surreal in its rhythm which started off as one thing and then ended as another. It’s not like any book I’ve read – it keeps you on your toes with its many changes!
I loved revisiting Toronto and its neighbourhoods. I lived near to Kensington Market and boy has the author captured the spirit and essence of that place. Shame the park has changed as I remember many an afternoon sitting there reading. It was a joy to revisit it and if I ever go back I’m sure I will now be wondering if I have a doppel ganger.
An homage to the city and its people, to the spirit of the city and a story about who and what we are, beneath the surface.
June 30, 2018
A strange one for me. When I started it I found it highly intriguing and there is no doubt it is beautifully written. However I felt the more I got into it the less engaging I found it. Over written in places but in others spot on. It also had an over convoluted middle and a tendency to feel too clever.
Having said that it picked up again at the end and the early parts, where our main character was becoming part of Bellevue Square's vivid, vibrant and diverse community was genuinely absorbing. The idea of a doppelganger was both a little creepy and the thing that made me want to read it but this is a novel of many layers, some of which worked for this reader some of which did not.
I'd definitely recommend Bellevue Square to those lovers of literary edgy fiction. It has a lot going for it and has certainly wetted my appetite for more from this author. However Bellevue Square, in and of itself, didn't quite work for me on a personal and subjective level.
Having said that it picked up again at the end and the early parts, where our main character was becoming part of Bellevue Square's vivid, vibrant and diverse community was genuinely absorbing. The idea of a doppelganger was both a little creepy and the thing that made me want to read it but this is a novel of many layers, some of which worked for this reader some of which did not.
I'd definitely recommend Bellevue Square to those lovers of literary edgy fiction. It has a lot going for it and has certainly wetted my appetite for more from this author. However Bellevue Square, in and of itself, didn't quite work for me on a personal and subjective level.
December 26, 2017
Redhill rips off a strong premise of the shifty doppelganger skulking about in the shadows from the 1955 Hitchcock film titled, 'The Case of Mr. Pelham.' One would think the premise would carry the story to at least mediocre standing. Sadly, this does not happen. While there is some amusing antics along the way starring the unreliable first-person character of Jean and her 'parkie' pals, the reader is let down. Some would cry but how? After all the novel did win the Giller Prize. True enough. Well the reader is led to believe Jean is either mentally ill, a bored housewife seeing things, has a brain tumour in such a location that affects her sense of self, OR there really is an elaborate conspiracy in the works. Despite this being the first in a trilogy there is supposed to be some satisfaction for the reader in how the first book ends. It still appears Jean is either crazy as a loon, her doppelganger is real and she simply wants to kill it, or maybe Jean isn't even Jean. The reader has no idea. And it is the ambiguity of the ending I cannot forgive. Had Redhill given clear evidence of a master conspiracy only the nutter Jean can see while still holding back on the why leaving the depth of the conspiracy open to play with for the following two books I could live with not only the ending but the entire novel. Instead the reader is strung along with a donkey leash braying for answers with Redhill laughing in the background. We are left with a story that should have been strong, a story that started with promise only to leave the reader twitching in the wind.
October 5, 2017
What did i just read? Indeed. Redhill finds in this a great page turning mystery, and maybe the most compelling and terrifying first person experience of mental illness I've experienced in a while. I think the book might have made me crazy. Or was I crazy before? Hard to tell, but easy to feel what it might feel like. Also - very funny.
November 29, 2017
Thank God that's over. Depressing, dark, and far too manipulated to convey anything authentic.
November 5, 2017
Oh my. Love this book!
Not long into it I wondered why it was written as 'Michael Redhill' and not as 'Inger Ash Wolfe'... but there came that 'Aha' moment about 2/3 of the way through when it became clear why not.
Now, having finished the book it makes perfect sense - which is saying something since this book is one big descent into a magical rabbit hole... in which nothing makes sense... since nothing is quite what it seems to be.
If the unreliable narrator and the literary trickery are not enough to keep you enthralled, then love this book for the love letter that it is to Toronto - especially to Kensington Market and environs - where I spent so much time in my own youth growing up in the city - and for the plea on the part of the author to have compassion and respect for those among us who are living with mental illness of one sort or another.
Not long into it I wondered why it was written as 'Michael Redhill' and not as 'Inger Ash Wolfe'... but there came that 'Aha' moment about 2/3 of the way through when it became clear why not.
Now, having finished the book it makes perfect sense - which is saying something since this book is one big descent into a magical rabbit hole... in which nothing makes sense... since nothing is quite what it seems to be.
If the unreliable narrator and the literary trickery are not enough to keep you enthralled, then love this book for the love letter that it is to Toronto - especially to Kensington Market and environs - where I spent so much time in my own youth growing up in the city - and for the plea on the part of the author to have compassion and respect for those among us who are living with mental illness of one sort or another.
February 14, 2018
Scotiabank Giller Prize Winner for 2017. It is always luck of the draw with literary novels - what were the judges "judging"? And how do I, a mere plebeian, dare an opinion which differs?
Well, I guess that is the very thing... I have read a motley pile of literary fiction, which has merit on so many levels and really can't be discredited. So, I'm not discrediting Bellevue Square - I'm simply thinking: What the hell did I just read?
The doppelgänger (double of another person) theme was intriguing. The setting of Toronto was interesting. The local oddballs were well described. The tension built...
Apparently this the first of a triptych called Ghost Stories. I read that after I completed the novel. Didn't help me one bit.
The judges and others with a finer palate than mine found this exceptional. So be it. I read it, but why?
Well, I guess that is the very thing... I have read a motley pile of literary fiction, which has merit on so many levels and really can't be discredited. So, I'm not discrediting Bellevue Square - I'm simply thinking: What the hell did I just read?
The doppelgänger (double of another person) theme was intriguing. The setting of Toronto was interesting. The local oddballs were well described. The tension built...
Apparently this the first of a triptych called Ghost Stories. I read that after I completed the novel. Didn't help me one bit.
The judges and others with a finer palate than mine found this exceptional. So be it. I read it, but why?
January 5, 2023
2.5!
“Navigate a world where half of everything you know is a reflection, a refraction, or a memory.”
This is the last nail in the coffin for the trope of having a character with a mental illness in a “thriller” as a plot device or reading from the perspective of a psychotherapist (not featured in this book). I first discovered these tropes in the Silent Patient. However, I did like the plot twist of the Silent Patient, but I did not enjoy reading this book.
This book might be an either you like it or you don't! Reading this has been a frustrating and confusing whirlwind of an experience, but the main character is experiencing this as well. It's always fun to read about a book set in Toronto, especially when I have sat in Bellevue Square for some time like the main character!
“Navigate a world where half of everything you know is a reflection, a refraction, or a memory.”
This is the last nail in the coffin for the trope of having a character with a mental illness in a “thriller” as a plot device or reading from the perspective of a psychotherapist (not featured in this book). I first discovered these tropes in the Silent Patient. However, I did like the plot twist of the Silent Patient, but I did not enjoy reading this book.
This book might be an either you like it or you don't! Reading this has been a frustrating and confusing whirlwind of an experience, but the main character is experiencing this as well. It's always fun to read about a book set in Toronto, especially when I have sat in Bellevue Square for some time like the main character!
November 29, 2017
This? This won the Giller Prize? Consolation was such a vastly superior book. I don't even know where to start with this mess of a story: its horribly drawn characters or ridiculous plot. I can't even begin to voice my disappointment.
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