To Catch a Moon

by Rym Kechacha

Mexico City, 1955. The painter Remedios Varo sits in her kitchen with her friend, the artist Leonora Carrington. Together they let their imaginations soar beyond their canvases to create new worlds.  In the surreal landscape of her imagination, Varo’s creations take on a life and power of their own. A wheeled spirit of the earth kidnaps a baby star; a woman who is half owl draws herself a daughter; a juggler entrances a crowd of grey-cloaked men, a lion and a goat. The rules that govern this world bend and creak, old alliances break, and an impending apocalypse forges the most unlikely of friendships. Rym Kechacha ( Dark River , British Fantasy Awards finalist 2021) spins a wild fantasy from Varo’s dreamlike imaginings, a world in which the moon’s daughter holds the key to mankind’s fate. Populated by witches, sentient animals, and a lion made of leaves, To Catch a Moon is a bold and fearless ode to the power of Remedios Varo’s timeless paintings.

Genres: Fantasy, Magical Realism, Literary Fiction, Fiction

Paperback

First published June 2, 2022

About the author

Rym Kechacha is a writer and teacher from London. She is the author of Dark River (2020, shortlisted for two British Fantasy Awards) and To Catch a Moon (2022) An omnivorous reader, she writes speculative fiction and is inspired by mythology, nature and art.

Reviews

[Dylan Kakoulli · Rating 2 out of 5]

An easy, though not entirely engaging (mainly as it was all fairly predictable in terms of plot) read.

I think I thought this would include a lot more historical art references (given the mention of two fantastic -yet underrated, female, artists) than it did.

Definitely way more YA magical realism -which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, it’s just not my “thing”.

2.5/3 stars

PS. Thanks again to the publishers for sending me a copy, in exchange for an honest review.

[Tasha · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fascinating fantasy novel, bookended by a cup of herbal tea between two friends in Mexico in the 1950's. Their trip creates the world that the fantasy works around - and it's a really good read.

Blurb:
Mexico City, 1955. The painter Remedios Varo sits in her kitchen with her friend, the artist Leonara Carrington. Together they let their imaginations soar beyond their canvases to create new worlds.
In the surreal landscape of her imagination, Varo's creations take on a life and power of their own. A wheeled spirit of the earth kidnaps a baby star; a woman who is half owl draws herself a daughter; a juggler entrances a crowd of grey-cloaked men, a lion, and a goat. The rules that govern this world bend and creak, old alliances break, and an impending apocalypse forges the most unlikely of friendships.
Rym Kechacha ... spins a wild fantasy from Varo's dreamlike art, a world in which the moon's daughter holds the key to mankind's fate. Populated by witches, sentient animals, and a lion made of leaves, To Catch a Moon is a bold and fearless ode to the power of Remidios Varo's timeless paintings.

This was fascinating - if nothing else, because I had not heard of Remedios Varo before. So this made for an interesting read, and one I think I'll come back to. The fantasy world was very well done, with really good plot development, world building and characters. I struggled a bit with the book ends of the painter's life, but I think that's more because I was painting a different picture in my head of how the novel would develop. Once I got into the fantasy section, I couldn't put it down, and I was most disappointed to leave this world. However, it's also really nice to have a stand alone novel in this genre, which was about 350 pages long, so not a massive tome.

Many thanks to #ABoS A Box of Stories for sending me this - a keeper!

[Roisin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Once I went down the rabbit hole of the mystical world spun in, To Catch a Moon, I did not emerge until I had completed the journey. It's a whirlwind of a book, spinning a tale about the fate of mankind that is at once fantastical and relatable and just a lot of fun. It has imprinted images/visions in my mind that make me smile. When you finish it, have a look at Remedios Varo's other-worldly artworks to peak at the source material for this wonderful tale.

[Runalong · Rating 5 out of 5]

Strange, surreal, beautiful and a unusual mix of feeling like a classic story that very much is a new creation this is a fantastical example of what fantasy is capable of

Full review - https://www.runalongtheshelves.net/bl...

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautifully surreal and romantic

Full review to come on British Fantasy Society’s website

[Jax Burgoyne · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book somehow manages to be both eerie/dark and warm. It quickly grabbed me, getting me picking it up more and more quickly (shorter gaps). And I'm still missing the characters. All of them!