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How the Blessed Live
Minor earthquakes every day; that's what they say. Lucy feels the tremors like a needle sensitized to respond to the slightest movement. She feels the push, the blind thrust of the earth's elastic body, pushing out, pulling in, behaving unpredictably. She lies awake at night, staring into the darkness, thinking of the tectonic plates moving against one another, building up tension, until something has to give.
On an isolated island in Lake Ontario live twins Lucy and Levi and their father, Daniel. While Daniel desperately mourns for his dead wife, Levi and Lucy grow up ever more entwined in their enchanted childhood of fairy tales and rhymes.
But when a fissure in the fragile cocoon of the family explodes into a chasm, each of the three is hurled in a different direction. Soon, there emerges a geographical triangle – Vancouver, Montreal, the island – that also maps out the terrain of love and the territory of family.
Part Egyptian myth, part Alice in Wonderland, How the Blessed Live is an ethereally quiet, unexpected debut from a novelist to be watched.
On an isolated island in Lake Ontario live twins Lucy and Levi and their father, Daniel. While Daniel desperately mourns for his dead wife, Levi and Lucy grow up ever more entwined in their enchanted childhood of fairy tales and rhymes.
But when a fissure in the fragile cocoon of the family explodes into a chasm, each of the three is hurled in a different direction. Soon, there emerges a geographical triangle – Vancouver, Montreal, the island – that also maps out the terrain of love and the territory of family.
Part Egyptian myth, part Alice in Wonderland, How the Blessed Live is an ethereally quiet, unexpected debut from a novelist to be watched.
175 pages, Paperback
First published May 19, 2002
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
June 23, 2016
How the Blessed Live follows Lucy and Levi’s narratives alongside the letters their father is writing to their deceased mother. From start to finish, this book was pure delight.
Every word in this novel is a gem. Every sentence a poem. Every paragraph a journey. I have rarely read anything more beautifully written. However, the entire book serves more to its themes then anything else. Remaining lacking of a plot and even proper character development, it is surpassingly intriguing because of its poetic, mythical writing style. Seriously, I cannot emphasize enough the talent Smith has.
Although, the downside of such a beautiful book is that while I loved the book as a whole, I didn’t particular connect with Lucy and Levi as well as I’d hoped. In fact, I felt more empathy towards their father then his twins. I didn’t even expect the book to be a tragedy though the entire novel is melancholic but the ending struck me really hard. What a life.
Though for me, Lucy’s perspective was still ultimately far more interesting then Levi’s, possibly because we’re introduced to her first. Levi was an interesting character but by the time we get to his narrative, I’ve already familiarized myself with Lucy’s narrative and wanted to find out about the father and whether what I was speculating was correct or not.
Because of that lack of deep connection with the characters, in the beginning I did struggle with Lucy’s perspective a lot. I was able to appreciate the writing but found it lacked any sense of direction and kept me frustrated with trying to understand what purpose the novel served. Until one little covert sentence changed my entire view and I speed through the rest of the novel. Very, very clever, dear author.
Every word in this novel is a gem. Every sentence a poem. Every paragraph a journey. I have rarely read anything more beautifully written. However, the entire book serves more to its themes then anything else. Remaining lacking of a plot and even proper character development, it is surpassingly intriguing because of its poetic, mythical writing style. Seriously, I cannot emphasize enough the talent Smith has.
Although, the downside of such a beautiful book is that while I loved the book as a whole, I didn’t particular connect with Lucy and Levi as well as I’d hoped. In fact, I felt more empathy towards their father then his twins. I didn’t even expect the book to be a tragedy though the entire novel is melancholic but the ending struck me really hard. What a life.
Though for me, Lucy’s perspective was still ultimately far more interesting then Levi’s, possibly because we’re introduced to her first. Levi was an interesting character but by the time we get to his narrative, I’ve already familiarized myself with Lucy’s narrative and wanted to find out about the father and whether what I was speculating was correct or not.
Because of that lack of deep connection with the characters, in the beginning I did struggle with Lucy’s perspective a lot. I was able to appreciate the writing but found it lacked any sense of direction and kept me frustrated with trying to understand what purpose the novel served. Until one little covert sentence changed my entire view and I speed through the rest of the novel. Very, very clever, dear author.
August 5, 2024
Sprachlich schön, inhaltlich für mich weniger interessant, Anklänge an Osiris-Mythos für mich eher missglückt.
December 16, 2020
2016: This five star book snuck up on me. Took me about 50 pages to get into it, but then I was immersed. It's like one long poem about grief and love, identity and myth, family and loneliness. I need to reread this and underline all the things. So good.
2020: Well, I finally reread this and did not enjoy it that much. There were many interesting plotlines that are not developed. Smith introduces some hard-hitting themes - eating disorders, miscarriages, exploring sexuality, and (the big one) incest - without coming to any conclusions. She gets credit for having these themes in her book without really doing the work to truly deal with them. The different parts of the book are disconnected. There is a magical-realist circus at the beginning that eventually amounts to nothing in the rest of the fairly realistic plot. Cassy seems very important at the beginning, but quickly leaves the story. Is this Lucy's post-trauma, coming-of-age story? If so, then why do we get a section from Levi's perspective that denies the existence of that trauma? If not, then why couldn't we have developed Daniel as not only a grieving widower, but also a part of his children's lives? Overall, too much ambiguity for me to enjoy this upon rereading.
2020: Well, I finally reread this and did not enjoy it that much. There were many interesting plotlines that are not developed. Smith introduces some hard-hitting themes - eating disorders, miscarriages, exploring sexuality, and (the big one) incest - without coming to any conclusions. She gets credit for having these themes in her book without really doing the work to truly deal with them. The different parts of the book are disconnected. There is a magical-realist circus at the beginning that eventually amounts to nothing in the rest of the fairly realistic plot. Cassy seems very important at the beginning, but quickly leaves the story. Is this Lucy's post-trauma, coming-of-age story? If so, then why do we get a section from Levi's perspective that denies the existence of that trauma? If not, then why couldn't we have developed Daniel as not only a grieving widower, but also a part of his children's lives? Overall, too much ambiguity for me to enjoy this upon rereading.
June 15, 2016
Oh my this book is breath taking amazing beautiful wonderful sad and perfection!
January 4, 2017
I completely love this book. Just everything.
September 21, 2017
This book was such an exception, nothing quite like anything I’ve ever read before. It was one of my selections for my #5startbrpredictions and though it wasn’t a 5 star read, I loved it and would highly recommend it. This novel has 59 ratings on Goodreads and definitely deserves more recognition. Part Egyptian myth, part Alice in Wonderland, it is a modern representation of the tale of Isis and Osiris.
Lucy and Levi are twins whose mother dies during childbirth and they are brought up by their father in a remote island off the coast of Ontario. The first half of the novel follows Lucy, as she tries to reinvent herself & her section is thematically inspired from Alice in Wonderland. She takes a job as the personal assistant for the ringmaster of The Holy Circus, a nightly show of humans with freakish, otherworldly talents. These fantastic creations are wonderfully whimsical, dark, and believable in spite of their incredulity – the lack of explanation for their existence actually heightens the illusion.
The second half follows Levi, and his section is definitely more Egyptian myth influenced. He is an art student in Montreal creating paper-mache mummified sculptures for an art installation. The novel, throughout, is interspersed with journal entries their grieving father writes to his dead wife which are profoundly moving and gives the backstory that pulls it all together.
The twins grow up in a childhood enthused in myth, legends and fairytales, only to be catapulted to different directions following a fissure in their fragile familial cocoon. Interweaving through mysterious gaps of the metaphysical and the magical, the characters set on independent journeys of self-discovery, only to get lost and find themselves again.
This book is only 166 pages in length, but it’s beautifully realised. It doesn’t focus on plot or characters even. It’s the themes, writing, emotions & the experience that lingers. It’s written in luminous prose. Not a single word wasted, every sentence exquisitely crafted, with the whole novel reading like one long poem. Despite its beauty, the ending left me confused and felt inadequate. It’s still one I’d highly recommend for just how unusually fascinating it is.
Lucy and Levi are twins whose mother dies during childbirth and they are brought up by their father in a remote island off the coast of Ontario. The first half of the novel follows Lucy, as she tries to reinvent herself & her section is thematically inspired from Alice in Wonderland. She takes a job as the personal assistant for the ringmaster of The Holy Circus, a nightly show of humans with freakish, otherworldly talents. These fantastic creations are wonderfully whimsical, dark, and believable in spite of their incredulity – the lack of explanation for their existence actually heightens the illusion.
The second half follows Levi, and his section is definitely more Egyptian myth influenced. He is an art student in Montreal creating paper-mache mummified sculptures for an art installation. The novel, throughout, is interspersed with journal entries their grieving father writes to his dead wife which are profoundly moving and gives the backstory that pulls it all together.
The twins grow up in a childhood enthused in myth, legends and fairytales, only to be catapulted to different directions following a fissure in their fragile familial cocoon. Interweaving through mysterious gaps of the metaphysical and the magical, the characters set on independent journeys of self-discovery, only to get lost and find themselves again.
This book is only 166 pages in length, but it’s beautifully realised. It doesn’t focus on plot or characters even. It’s the themes, writing, emotions & the experience that lingers. It’s written in luminous prose. Not a single word wasted, every sentence exquisitely crafted, with the whole novel reading like one long poem. Despite its beauty, the ending left me confused and felt inadequate. It’s still one I’d highly recommend for just how unusually fascinating it is.
June 11, 2018
3.5
If you're into exquisite writing that reads like poetry, myth, fairytales and eerie characters I would say go for it. I could not put the book down but it was ultimately too predictable and left me with a feeling of inexplicable unease and confusion. I still think more people need to read it, it's not for everyone but this is a hidden gem nonetheless if only for the writing.
If you're into exquisite writing that reads like poetry, myth, fairytales and eerie characters I would say go for it. I could not put the book down but it was ultimately too predictable and left me with a feeling of inexplicable unease and confusion. I still think more people need to read it, it's not for everyone but this is a hidden gem nonetheless if only for the writing.
November 23, 2018
This was such a beautifully crafted novella! The light magical realism woven through the narrative had me spellbound. Highly recommend for anyone interested in mythology and story telling.
July 7, 2016
I enjoyed this for the beautiful language, but sadly found the character development quite lacking. In the end, I did not feel like I knew the characters at all which kept me disengaged from the story.
The novel is divided into five sections and told through three separate narratives. One thread is told through the point of view of Daniel–the grieving father of twins Lucy and Levi. His wife died after giving birth to their children. In the beginning, we follow Lucy after having left home due to some mysterious circumstances. She has newly arrived in Vancouver where she runs into several enigmatic characters and ends up working as an assistant to the owner of The Holy Circus which showcases bizarre acts that couldn't easily be explained by reason or science. In the latter half, we meet her twin Levi as he navigates his new life as an art student in Montreal and as he deals with the sudden disappearance of his sister. All this is interspersed with Daniel's letters to his wife through time as he mourns for her death while single-handedly raising their children. So while Lucy's story is the driving force keeping the narrative forward, in the end I found that I empathized more with Daniel which is probably because his part of the story is told through first person, thus giving us more access to his thoughts and motivations.
While I get that this is a novel based on a well-known myth and some elements of fairy tale—that things don't really have to be explained or even to make sense, I think too much stuff have been left unexplored. I'm not just referring to the (supposedly) supernatural stuff that happens in the novel but also the relationship between Lucy and Levi and to a lesser extent, that between Lucy and Phineas, the mysterious owner of the circus who seems to know more about Lucy and her personal struggles than a typical boss might. We do find some answers in the end but I still I feel like I'm missing a whole lot, just thinking about it. I just wish that the story has been given more room to unfold so we could get to know the characters and their backstories better.
Nonetheless, I'm giving it a solid three stars for the poetic prose and the creative use of mythical/supernatural themes. Recommended for those who enjoy fragmented narratives told through beautifully restrained language.
The novel is divided into five sections and told through three separate narratives. One thread is told through the point of view of Daniel–the grieving father of twins Lucy and Levi. His wife died after giving birth to their children. In the beginning, we follow Lucy after having left home due to some mysterious circumstances. She has newly arrived in Vancouver where she runs into several enigmatic characters and ends up working as an assistant to the owner of The Holy Circus which showcases bizarre acts that couldn't easily be explained by reason or science. In the latter half, we meet her twin Levi as he navigates his new life as an art student in Montreal and as he deals with the sudden disappearance of his sister. All this is interspersed with Daniel's letters to his wife through time as he mourns for her death while single-handedly raising their children. So while Lucy's story is the driving force keeping the narrative forward, in the end I found that I empathized more with Daniel which is probably because his part of the story is told through first person, thus giving us more access to his thoughts and motivations.
While I get that this is a novel based on a well-known myth and some elements of fairy tale—that things don't really have to be explained or even to make sense, I think too much stuff have been left unexplored. I'm not just referring to the (supposedly) supernatural stuff that happens in the novel but also the relationship between Lucy and Levi and to a lesser extent, that between Lucy and Phineas, the mysterious owner of the circus who seems to know more about Lucy and her personal struggles than a typical boss might. We do find some answers in the end but I still I feel like I'm missing a whole lot, just thinking about it. I just wish that the story has been given more room to unfold so we could get to know the characters and their backstories better.
Nonetheless, I'm giving it a solid three stars for the poetic prose and the creative use of mythical/supernatural themes. Recommended for those who enjoy fragmented narratives told through beautifully restrained language.
January 5, 2021
The writing is exquisite. Sometimes it shimmers with poetry. I loved this. However, I struggled to connect with the characters, especially Lucy whose narrative takes up the first half of the book. I flew through the end though and overall, I think it's beautifully written. The characters are just hard to connect with.
August 4, 2015
Poetic and immersive. Beautiful compassionate writing about twins Lucy & Levi, their special relationship, as their father mourns their mother.
March 4, 2016
Loved it from start to finish, absolutely beautiful.
November 12, 2016
Beautifully written.
June 4, 2017
Beautifully written.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews