The Magician's Assistant (original 1997; edition 1998)

Slightly disappointed with the ending, but otherwise loved this book. ( )

Parsifal the Magician is dead, as is Phan, his lover, leaving only Sabine, the magician’s assistant who has been in love with Parsifal for 22 years, since the day she was 19 and Parsifal called her to the stage as a volunteer during his act. Phan died painfully from AIDS and Parsifal, expecting the same for himself, married Sabine a year ago, making her the beneficiary of his (and Phan’s) wealth and possessions. But an aneurysm took away in an instant the two years she thought they had left and Sabine would gladly give up the spacious Los Angeles home they shared for just a few moments with the man she loved.

Crippled by grief, Sabine curls up with Rabbit and sleeps through the days, reveling in vivid, dreamy conversations with Phan, until she is forced to discover that Parsifal’s family is not dead, as she has always believed. His mother and two sisters are quite alive in his Nebraska home town.

Sabine’s parents discourage her from making contact but Sabine cannot resist. Her future with Parsifal is gone; all that remains to know about him is his past. Why did he leave his family and never look back? Why did he lie to her? Did Sabine really know Parsifal at all?

Patchett builds the story with sleight of hand, jumping around in time to fill in the pieces of Parsifal’s life and Sabine’s love. Combined with dreams that vaguely foreshadow events, Patchett’s construction is challenging but worth the enchanting effect. After living a life in limbo - in love with her best friend, a man who would never be hers - can Sabine find comfort in the life he left behind? ( )

I found this book thoroughly engaging. This was the first novel I read of Patchett's. I love the way she gets into the psyche of her characters. Unlike, Bel Canto or State of Wonder, I felt this was a much lighter read. Well-written (not surprising) with unexpected twists that form a completely different take on family. ( )

Ann Patchett is one of the best novelists writing today, maybe the best. Each of her novels that I've read (this is the third) has been different and amazing. In the story of Sabine, the magician's assistant; her late husband, Parsifal; his longtime lover, Phan; and the mother and sisters Parsifal left behind in Nebraska, whose existence Sabine only learns of after his death, Patchett deals with themes of love, memory, family, dreams, home, America and its promise, and secrets. It is a heartwrenching book, but one that ends with hope. Patchett obviously loves her characters and makes us love them too. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes good writing and a good story. ( )

Ann Patchett is now officially one of my favorite authors.
*
First read December 2007, re-read August 2008.

"I love my children. No one will tell you otherwise, but just between the two of us I have to say I admire you for not having any. The ways they break your heart, Jesus, and it never stops. I mean it, it simply does not stop." (154) ( )