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The Magician's Wife
 
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The Magician's Wife (Hardcover)

by Brian Moore (Author)
3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)

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From Library Journal

Moore (The Statement, LJ 5/1/96) has again produced a deeply unsettling novel with a moral problem at its heart. When Napoleon III asks magician Henri Lambert to go to Algeria and put his powers in competition with an Arab holy man threatening jihad against the French, Henri and his young wife Emmeline are indelibly altered. If Lambert succeeds in postponing the necessary (in colonial terms) intervention of the French army, does he save the lives of soldiers and Arab Algerians alike? Or do all just die a bit later? This is not merely an academic question, as anyone who reads the gruesome and horrifying news stories of slaughter in contemporary Algeria will attest. Moore does not altogether succeed in establishing the splendor of the 19th-century French court but is wonderful at the heat and beauty of Algeria and at the sensual lure of the French soldier who troubles Emmeline's contentment. Buy wherever Moore's many novels are read, which should be everywhere.
-?Judith Kicinski, Sarah Lawrence Coll., Bronxville, N.Y.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Kirkus Reviews

The drama of embattled faith that makes up his preoccupying theme takes one of its most unusual and interesting forms so far in this impressive new work from the Canadian author whose long career has recently peaked with such compact and well-crafted novels as No Other Life (1992) and The Statement (1996). Moore's latest is set in mid-19th century France and Algeria, its rather remarkably varied actions seen through the eyes of Emmeline Lambert, the country-bred (though in no sense ignorant) young wife of Parisian ``illusionist'' Henri Lambert, a magician of such renown that he and his spouse are invited to join a weeklong party at CompiŠgne, the rural estate of Emperor Napoleon III. Emmeline's initial reluctance to attend yields to even more troubled feelings when the casual amorality and bloodthirsty ``sport'' indulged in by her aristocratic fellow guests reveal their shallowness, and when she learns that Henri will be commanded to display his powers before the Arab rulers of Algeria, a territory the powerful Emperor hungrily covets. Emmeline dutifully accompanies Henri to that strange new land, and, as her mistrust of her country's, and Henri's, benevolence deepens, she simultaneously becomes drawn toward the Arabs' culture and moved by the simplicity and selflessness of their faith (``All they ask is God's help to guide them in the right path. Isn't that what all of us should ask?''). Emmeline's open rebellion against her husband's duplicity is perhaps the only false step in a superbly constructed story that offers both an ingeniously managed plot and thoughtfully detailed portrayals of two remote, and utterly different, civilizations, all in fewer than two hundred and fifty pages. Surrendering to the spell of Moore at the top of his game is like watching a master illusionist at work. Few of his more celebrated contemporaries come even near him as a pure storyteller. The Magicians' Wife is another triumph. (Literary Guild Selection) -- Copyright ©1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

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Customer Reviews

18 Reviews
5 star:
 (7)
4 star:
 (4)
3 star:
 (2)
2 star:
 (4)
1 star:
 (1)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
3.7 out of 5 stars (18 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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2.0 out of 5 stars Sadly lacking in magic, May 1 2001
By William M. Begert (New York, NY USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This review is from: Magician's Wife (Paperback)
The only thing mystifying about this novel is why it was necessary to write it. Through a fair amount of stilted writing, we follow the tale of a couple from Tours - a magician and his wife - as they are pulled from their complacency in small town France and are convinced by Napoleon III to embark upon a rather ridiculous mission to bedazzle the native populace of colonial Algeria. The story meanders without drama or poetry through their audience at court, vague flirtations with powerful, transparently manipulative men, and the exoticism of Algeria before finally getting around to the moral you knew was coming all along: colonialism was alienating and evil. There are many more interesting texts on the subject, two of the best being about the situation of the French in Algeria (Camus' "The Stranger" and Fanon's "Black Skin, White Masks"), which only makes this effort seem more twee. I cannot recommend this novel unless you have a specific fascination with French North Africa, and even then only if you are stranded without other options for killing the afternoon.
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2.0 out of 5 stars Huh...?, Oct 24 2000
By cxd "cxd207" (Pennsylvania) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Magician's Wife (Paperback)
I also cannot figure out the high praise for this book. It was dreadfully boring & the ending was a huge letdown. Not one truly interesting character in the entire book.
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4.0 out of 5 stars A Magical Read, Oct 22 2000
By A Customer
This review is from: Magician's Wife (Paperback)
An intriguing story about a French magician who travels to Algeria with his wife to perform the ultimate sleight of hand. Author Brian Moore based his novel on a true story, and I found myself wondering about this as I read the book. A very magical read, Moore has an etheral writing style that truly places you within the storyline.
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Most recent customer reviews

3.0 out of 5 stars a master storyteller falters? (a bit).
He was a marvelous writer who served up 5-star books like Judith Hearne, The Luck of Ginger Coffey, The Statement, and my favorite of all, An Answer From Limbo... Read more
Published on May 20 2001 by Cipriano

2.0 out of 5 stars Insipid Prose / Interesting Idea
I've never heard of Brian Moore, and the only reason I picked up this book is because I lived in Algeria for 5 years. Read more
Published on Oct 12 2000 by A. Ross

1.0 out of 5 stars I am a Brian Moore fan, and could not finish this book
I have read a number of Moore's earlier works. Reading the Magician's Wife, I began to wonder if there were 2 Brian Moore's, and actually checked Amazon. Read more
Published on July 19 2000 by algo41

3.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating story, shallow characters.
Anyone interested in the historical relationship between Algeria and France or between fundamentalist Muslims and Christians will find the story... Read more
Published on Jun 27 2000 by Mary Whipple

2.0 out of 5 stars Good idea, but a very boring execution of it
I had heard high praise of Brian Moore comparing him to Graham Greene; however, I found that to be very misleading. Read more
Published on May 8 2000

4.0 out of 5 stars Spellbinding
The Magician's Wife is Moore at his best. From the view-point of Emmeline, the magician's wife, the story is told with her honest heart, understanding of politics, just emotions... Read more
Published on Mar 12 2000 by Ellen Chan

5.0 out of 5 stars Unforgettable and clearly should be a film
This book is compelling, has well drawn characters, and has such a powerful ending that it's easy to picture it as a wonderful film. Read more
Published on Mar 9 2000 by Alex Ruttenberg

4.0 out of 5 stars something for everyone
Here's a very good novel with something for everyone. Written by an Irish man who lived in California about a French woman in Africa--and all this multicultural material comes... Read more
Published on Sep 14 1999

5.0 out of 5 stars A very pleasant surprise
I read this book only because it was the assigned book for my book club. I did not expect to like it. Was I ever surprised. I loved it! Read more
Published on July 11 1999

5.0 out of 5 stars A beautifully understated tale of inner strife.
More fabulous storytelling from Brian Moore. An intelligent and sensitive woman, married to a controlled and remote, but fascinating man, Emmeline is bored, self-indulgent,... Read more
Published on May 7 1999 by Margaret Fiore

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