THEY BLOOM AT NIGHT

 

I'm not even sure where to start.

This TRIUMPH...this MASTERPIECE of a novel is by someone I never heard of before, Trang Thanh Tran.  The ISBN is 978-1-5476-1111-9.  Bloomsbury Publishing put it out just this year. 

CLIFFIE'S NOTES ON THIS ASTONISHING READ:

>> I feel bound to assure my readers that this author is PRETTY MUCH A CREATURE OF THE LAND, but she sure doesn't write like one.  If fish could write, THEY WOULD WRITE LIKE THIS.

>> The narrator is a young woman who doesn't feel as if she belonged anywhere up on dry land.  Too many bad experiences, too much landscum ugliness in her life.  IN OTHER WORDS, SHE'S PERFECT RECRUITMENT MATERIAL, not least because SHE REALLY ONLY FEELS AT HOME ON THE OPEN WATER. 

>> Her heart is clearly in the right place.  I doubted it at first, but then I saw how she stood up for Frank in this one scene, a little ways into the book.  SHE GETS IT.

>> SAME AS IN REAL LIFE, she has no idea that she is being recruited or by whom.  BUT IT ALL COMES CLEAR IN THE END as she starts to change into who she is and hears the sea calling to her in a new way.

>> So many stories of this type are presented as HORROR.  This is more like a delightful fairy tale with a purely happy ending.

>> I won't ruin the story for you by telling you any more.  But whatever you do, read it!

TWO FINS UP!