All the World's a Wonder - Melia McClure - ★★★.¾

AUTHOR: Melia McClure

GENRE: Literary Fiction

RATING: 3.75 stars.

In a Nutshell: A complicated and quirky literary fiction. I am still not sure if I *got* the whole novel (being much deficient in surrealism-processing abilities), but I am in awe of the author’s intricate plotting. Recommended only to niche lit-fic lovers.

Story Synopsis: (Have to keep this vague as this is an easy novel to spoil.)

The Playwright: Successful in her work, but haunted by her muses. And I mean ‘haunted’ in many ways, including literally.

The Psychiatrist: Seemingly a misogynistic prig, but haunted by his long-lost love.

The Muse: A stage actress who is determined to do anything to succeed, but haunted by what she has had to sacrifice.

The lives of these three characters juxtapose in a curious manner, sometimes crossing the boundaries of time and space.

The story comes to us through the first person narration of these three characters over the current timeline and flashbacks.

Just a few days ago, my friend and fellow reviewer Srivalli had attempted to convince me to read a book she described as a ‘fever dream’, and I had confidently told her that nothing could induce me to read such a novel. Here I am, barely a week later, reading a different book that can best be described as a ‘fever dream’. Sigh! Lady Luck loves to play a joke on us and chuckle heartily at our reactions, doesn’t she?

Thankfully, all is not lost. The novel is a strongly-developed literary fiction, with compelling characters and a fascinating yet convoluted plotline that is nigh on impossible to guess. There were so many times when I wondered where the author was going with the latest twisty development, but by the end, everything came together pretty well. I say ‘pretty well’ because I am still not sure how some things happened – blame this on my inability to process anything that is too surreal. The logical side of me struggles to find answers while the creative side of me tries its best to shush the queries.

The central characters are distinct in their voices and layered in their personalities. Hearing from them all in first person is a challenging exercise, but the author does pretty well in keeping their narrations discrete from each other in tone and style. Only the muse’s name is revealed to us – ‘Maxine’. The other two narrators – the playwright and the psychiatrist – stay unnamed throughout. An unusual writing choice that works surprisingly well. There are several other compelling characters in the book, most of whom are as well-sketched as the central trio. I especially love Sam the theatre agent and Henry the busker – wish they had had more page space.

The title might remind you of Shakespeare’s famous “All the world’s a stage” from ‘As You Like It’. In many ways, this line describes the book perfectly. Every main character in the book is ‘performing’ a role, whether for themselves or for others. They come on ‘stage’, reveal to us their thoughts and actions in their first-person monologue, and then hand over the narration to the next character. Underneath their act lie many secrets that almost make them unreliable narrators, confusing us about why they are behaving that way and yet fascinating us enough to keep listening to them and believing in them.

The plot is presented in one of the most creative story structures I have read. While the three characters present the main narration through their individual perspectives, each of their chapters goes randomly back and forth across timelines. The past of each character is set in independent time periods, and only their presents converge. But what sets the experience apart is that some ‘chapters’ are written in play script format. These sections, the only ones where the characters interact with each other, have a very different writing voice, and work best in revealing more about the characters’ personalities. I loved the medley of script and prose as they worked harmoniously with each other without seeming out of place.

The story is set in various locations and eras (Jazz Age Broadway, Contemporary Manhattan, and a Greek island), but the locations get a relatively lower focus. We get a glimpse of the culture of the place but not the place itself. This aspect of the setting could have been developed better, though the lack thereof doesn’t affect the impact of the character-driven storyline.

All in all, I did like the book a lot, though I am still not sure if I have figured everything out. The plot is an intricate maze that befuddled the surrealism-phobe in me a few times, but satiated the lit-fic lover in me without reservations.

Recommended, yes. But this Canadian indie work isn’t for everyone. Unfortunately, only a few readers prefer character-driven storylines, and even fewer enjoy stories that bend reality in such whimsical ways. But to those adventurous souls who would love a taste of the eccentric, who would enjoy a story that encompasses the bizarre while still feeling grounded, and of course, who like character-driven fiction, this would be an amazing choice.

My thanks to River Street Writing for the DRC of “All the World's a Wonder”. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.