The Man from Beyond: Rating: 4 stars

Harry Houdini, Arthur Conan Doyle, and a young journalist become entangled with a mysterious medium.

The Man from Beyond (Gabriel Brownstein)
Written by Gabriel Brownstein
Fiction · Drama
Reviewed September 13, 2006

Into the midst of my obsession with all things Houdini comes this novel, a creative story that’s both old and new. Normally, I get irritated with fictional retellings of factual tales, but this one is set apart from most banal attempts by the quality of its prose and its storytelling. The basic tenets of reality remain the same — Houdini is a debunker, Doyle a believer — but the character of Margery has been stripped of all but the most basic facts and rebuilt as an enigmatic young woman with a manipulative husband who may or may not be pulling her strings. Molly, the main protagonist, is appealing, likeable, and realistic; her inner turmoil is poignant and real. The prose is spare and yet hauntingly lyrical, dry humor laid over quiet melancholy; I envy this writer’s style and grace. It’s a much more solid read than I had expected — entertaining, thought-provoking, and remarkably unsettling.

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