The Disappearance Boy, by Neil Bartlett

A quiet, but interesting story, about a crippled young man who has somehow made his living following around an aging and morally destitute magician, as his backstage hand, and assistance; but never to be allowed on the stage. A wonderful young girl suddenly comes into their lives, and is hired to be the magician's onstage assistant and offstage lover, and their lives are not the same, ever again.

A bit slow at the start, as the narrator describes how life is like for the people in the novel, and how their work is done. I found it quite interesting, actually. I had no idea just how difficult some magicians work could be, especially with large cabinets that make the lady assistants disappear. Or, Reggie's entire job, for that matter. (Did all magicians have a Reggie? I hope so!)

As the storyline continues, it really keeps you guessing until the reveal. The carefully drawn characters are full of nuance, and they're - for the most part - lovable and true to this time. It was quite depressing for a few chapters, when the characters you have come to love seem doomed, in their tragic lives, for their stupid decisions.

But the author was very good at his research of this era. The meticulous attention to details of a famous day, and place was a real treat. So it seemed that in this particular story, there was stage magic, and real magic. There was loss, there was love - of many different kinds - and there was acceptance.

There also is a quite satisfying and surprising ending, which I will count as "happy". And in the end, I found it a touching and tender triumphant; of spirit, of love, and all else.

Great job from the author. 4 stars, for keeping me reading, when other novels would have bored me to tears, somewhere in the middle. ( )

Ugh this book. I thought I would breeze through it because the description really caught my attention; but boy was I wrong. Took me over a week to push through it and this is a fairly short book at 250+ pages.
The story is set in the 1950's and revolves around Reggie, who is a strange, young man with a limp due to polio when he was a child. He works with Mr. Brookes, who is a magician, as his back stage assistant. Reggie is really the magician here, since he does all the work the spectators don't see, thus making the illusion work smoothly.
We also have Pam, who is the new assistant on stage for Mr. Brookes. Pam has had her share of bad relationships and just wants to have a stable job and dedicate some time to take care of herself.
Slowly -very slowly- the story unfolds leading us to...nothing. Nothing really ever happens in this book! The story is weak and sometimes downright misleading. It makes us think Reggie is somewhat of a madman, or maybe bipolar, or maybe a murderer...and it turns out he's only gay. So much strange buildup for what? Meh. That's how this book made me feel: meh. ( )