Thieves

by Janice Kulyk Keefer

New Zealand-born Katherine Mansfield was one of the most original and influential writers of her generation. Her life also inspired two unlikely fans...

Decades after her death, a father and son have each become obsessed by her. What can this woman' life mean to them> Is she merely an object of admiration, or is she a focus for darker impulses of ambition and self-seeking?

Inspired by the true story of the theft of some of Katherine Mansfield's most poignant letters, Thieves investigates both the life of this remarkable creative spirit, and the seductive facility with which desire can breed deception.

Genres: Fiction

323 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2003

About the author

She is a Canadian novelist and poet.

Born in Toronto, she studied literature at universities in England and France. She teaches literature and theatre in the graduate studies department at the University Of Guelph.

Of Ukrainian heritage, Janice often writes about the experiences of first-generation Canadian children of immigrants. Her sister is the Canadian artist, Karen Kulyk.

Reviews

[Deborah · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Thieves is a clever, dissembling, genre-busting tumult of a novel.” — Ottawa Citizen—
I couldn’t agree more. It could be nothing less considering the short, haphazard, tragic life of Katherine Mansfield.
I think it was a brilliant approach as the author wove the stories of the people researching the life of the main character into the fabric of the memoir. I was almost tempted to give up due to the challenge of the circuitous plot. However it turned out to be very worthwhile to finish the book.

[Hope Burmeister · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading this alongside Katherine Mansfield’s short stories was a genius idea. It gave me a good insight into her life and the kind of person she was. She lived an extraordinary life that was much different than how others her age lived at the time. The novel itself was written very well, although I wouldn’t give it five stars as the pace was slightly slower than I expected and the ending was rather soft, in that nothing super exciting really happened. The Roger and Monty sections were not bad, but I do wonder what the point of Roger’s was. He seems to only exist to reflect on Katherine’s life and that’s it. We learn a lot more from Monty’s sections, but Cassie Baby’s ‘expose’ on Katherine Mansfield wasn’t really that shocking in my opinion. Also, the secret letter from Garnet kind of said nothing of importance. I think it could have been interesting to explore more of Cassie and Garnet’s relationship. Overall, it was a fun read to learn more about Katherine Mansfield’s life, but the fictionalised elements fell a bit flat. Worth a read only if you enjoy Katherine Mansfield’s stories and want to learn a bit more about her life.

[Joyce · Rating 3 out of 5]

Janice Kulyk Keefer's historical novel Thieves is based on the frightening but exciting
life of writer Katherine Mansfield. This woman lived life on the edge, hanging on to her wish to
write by her fingernails and getting into many unsavory situations. A friend and rival of Virginia Woolf, she persues the literary intelligencia of London and often uses shock value to get attention.
She travels as many did in those days to Italy and France following the 'artistic' crowd as a hanger on as well as a person of interest. Most of the things she did were done from fear of never being appreciated for her brilliance. She dies alone of tuberculosis.. people thought it was contagious and her friends abandoned her. This book is written as a novel about a man who discovers some of her manuscripts and through them recognizes his own path of ambition and is forced to take a second look at his life. I love the way Keefer wraps fiction around biography. Ingenious.