All their minds in tandem - David Sanger

Twin Peaks in the 1800s - an enigmatic stranger unearths a small town's secrets.

The setting is October 1879. The stage is New Georgetown, West Virginia.

A mysterious figure by the name of 'The Maker' has entered this small community and, almost immediately upon doing so, started entering the minds of the townsfolk.

Townsfolk who are as curious as The Maker himself. Like Dr Umbründ, the pint-sized physician with a prodigious capacity for sin; like the three sisters in the house on the hill - one stern, one wild, one mysterious; like the tavern's semi-mythical siren, 'The Bird', who plays spellbinding music from behind a black velvet curtain, and whom no patron has ever laid eyes on; like Odell, a youth with dreams and ambitions that his craven disposition will forever prevent him from seizing; and who has spent the entirety of his erstwhile existence under the crushing heel of Clay, New Georgetown's lead cad and chief alpha male.

As we enter these characters' lives, and lightly tread our way through their brains, their bedrooms, their backstories and beyond, we will see what it is they all hope for and hide - and learn just why The Maker has chosen to meet them. 

My thoughts:

I guess this book has a bit of magical realism in it, well yes it does. It's just Emerson is so good at what he does, it could be real, a little suggestion here and there you know. 

And now I will tell you what it's about.

Emerson is called The Maker, and he can make memories from you and take the bad ones away. But he is on a mission. I felt sorry for him in a way, he just wants one thing.

Odell is a pianist with a drunk for a father, and his story is more of a finding his own path.

And then there is Ora his sister who just seems lost

We also got Doctor Umbrund who hires Emerson. He was a hard one to pin down.

And last the 3 Marianne sisters. The one who is on the shelf, the one who should know better and the young one wanting more.

Emerson touches all their lives in one way or another. They all have their own stories, they all are connected. Some have memories from the war, some want more than this little town, and the book gives a few flashbacks here and there. Memories are sure the thing here, and secrets.

It's hard to say more since then you will know everything, and it's hard not to say more since I do want to explain things. But it was a nice setting, I wished they all could have gotten what they deserved (the good, the bad and the ugly), but that is not life. And of course the whole Maker thing was really good. 

I enjoyed their tales, and I must say the flashbacks were interesting. The whole war thing you know.

Conclusion:

An interesting tale.

Hardcover, 464 pages
Published March 31st 2016 by Quercus Books
Historical fiction
For review