La familia Vine es un fuerte matriarcado, comandada por Martha Vine, madre de siete hijas en Coventry, durante la Segunda Guerra Mundial. Martha posee un don sobrenatural, a través del cual siente premoniciones, ve fantasmas y recibe visitas en sueños. Cassie, su hija menor, posee también el don, que se manifiesta en ella como profundos ensueños de varios dí­as de duración que comprometen su papel como madre. Por ese motivo ha sido forzada a entregar a su primera hija, y espera ahora en las escaleras de la catedral a que alguien desee adoptar a su hijo Frank. Sin embargo, la visión de una gran explosión de luz proyectándose sobre los tres capiteles de la catedral le hace decidir quedarse con él. Martha ordena que el niño pase por manos de sus seis tías para ser criado y educado, y poco a poco, conforme Frank crece y se desarrolla, descubrirán que posee también el extraño don de la familia Vine.

The last G Joyce novel I read, *Smoking Poppy* was a clear five-star read and while I read on here I was not transfixed. The setting is Coventry after the war, with some going back into the night it was bombed. This might be my fourth novel that takes on the destruction, directly or indirectly, and perhaps conveys a particular aspect of it, as the youngest of the seven sisters, Cassie, wanders about the city having known, because she inherited the family 'second sight' that it would happen that night. But who could she tell who would listen?
Yes, seven sisters and husbands boyfriends lovers, all of whom are reasonably fleshed out, and their mother, Martha Vine. Mr. Vine died at some unknown time previous but husband and wife, by then, had not spoken to one another for many years. Cassie is fey (today she would likely be taking lithium) has had one child given up for adoption, but the second, conceived at the end of the war, she cannot part with and so Frank (she knew the American soldier's name, also knows he died) stays in the family, rotating about from sister to sister, a farm, twin spinsters into spiritualism, a commune in Cambridge . . . He also has the sight and can hear the dead. In particular a German airman who crashed in a field at the farm, but the cockpit, buried in the local stream, was never found, until Frank came along. Essentially we watch this family pull together and move on after the war. One thing I admire greatly is Joyce's ability to settle the characters firmly in reality, but at the same time leave room for mystery, and in particular some form of communication that transcends ordinary reality. It's a good novel, not a great one. ***1/2 ( )

When I first started reading Joyce's novels, they were more spooky and dealing with the supernatural in some way. At some point, he kind of morphed away from that and moved into a more literature method of writing. Looking at THE FACTS OF LIFE, there are ghosts in the story but for the most part the ghosts are clear indicators of the past trying to teach the present. They are not scary, spooky, let me freak you out type of ghosts but a more literal past lives existing with present ones and seen by only a few. Does this detract from the novel in any way? Not at all. It is in fact a great novel that is very well written. The characters are all fully developed. The story involving a young boy growing up in this unique family and learning about life is involving and interesting. And it is something I would recommend to others. It's just that I'm not used to my reading material falling into a more literature oriented category. Further evidence within this book is that the final ten pages are a Readers Club Guide; it includes a short interview with Joyce and thirteen Questions and Topics for Discussion. Again, it doesn't take anything away from the novel; it leaves me feeling slightly off kilter though. ( )

Theoretically, this is considered magical realism and inched into the World Fantasy Awards, but to be honest, it's not like that at all. I consider this regular, traditional fiction.

Good fiction, mind you, but in almost no ways can I consider this novel about post-WWII life in Coventry among a group of sisters passing along a boy to share... MAGICAL. I mean, yes, the writing is quite good and fun. I really enjoyed how we passed this poor kid along from sister to sister. And they're all nutjobs, not least his real mom.

I thought this was REFRESHING. Eclectic. And, as the title seems to hint at, a pretty interesting primer for LIFE, itself. It touches on just about everything we need to get by in it. :)

I like this. I really do. But Fantasy? No. Nope, nope, nope. Gotta love Lady Godiva, tho! ( )

Couldn't put it down because it keeps you guessing what is real, what is supernatural, what is delusional. The last couple chapters don't reveal much you haven't already figured out, though. Joyce manages to write female characters without being completely implausible. He is also great at names and weaving together the three main viewpoints.

A few new vocab words but I forgot to write them down. Sexually explicit. Some swearing. ( )