Joseph Fink and Jeffrey Cranor's "Faceless old woman who secretly lives in your home"

 

You can find this book here.

I'm old. Older than you can imagine. Probably older than I can imagine, and I have met nearly everyone in your family tree, going back well over a century" p. 7

This is an introduction to the protagonist of this novel. She is, as the title suggests, also a faceless old woman who secretly lives in your home. everyone's home. At the same time. Particularly in Night Vale. 

Now, before I get on with this book; if you do not know Night Vale, let me introduce you. It started as a podcast, and has become so much more. They are all horror-style stories within the show that kind of remind me of way back in the day when radio stations used to read novels by H. G. Wells or Comics from DC for everyone to hear. It's a very interesting series that has been going from 2012. This book is based off one of those podcasts. Feel free to listen to it here. It is the second in the list.

As a head's up, I have found the book to be just as good as the podcast series. Whilst you have to subscribe to hear all of the stories from Welcome to Night Vale, you can at least borrow this book for free!

The protagonist is far more developed in the novel than the podcast. You learn to understand her beginnings from the Mediterranean in 1792 to her connections to Craig in Night Vale in 2020. I do not want to give too much away because then it will spoil the history and creepiness this novel brings about. There are also some twists in this tale that you hopefully do not see coming.

The writing is very strong and it cements a sense of place for the multiple characters you encounter. There are also strong themes in regards to relationships and humanity and what that means, particularly when it comes to the life the Faceless Old Woman leads. Oh, and don't forget the humour. There is some of that in there too, reminiscent of the podcasters. 

If you are a fan of Welcome to Night Vale already, you might not like the fleshing out of the Faceless Old Woman, because it then may take the creepiness away from her. It didn't for me, but it might for you. This also isn't a book with strong scares or horror elements, so if that is what you are after, you are missing out here. 

Overall, I liked the read. It is familiar and yet not so in the places it describes in relation to the idea of it being our world, but not quite. The characters may not necessarily be fully developed every time, but they do work for the plot. This is definitely a plot-driven novel (though the action might be a little slower). So if you like a traipse through some light history (worldly and personal), this book should be given a go.

Links for you

Novels by Fink and Cranor in the Library:

Welcome to Night Vale

Series read-a-likes in the Library:

Twin Peaks

This one isn't so much a "read" as a "Watch" a-like. There is a book on this list that will help develop the series (old and new) if you are interested that will flesh out Twin Peaks, Like the Faceless Old Woman does (in part) for Night Vale.

Brian Bilston's "Diary of a somebody"

This book can be found here.

This book is filled with poetry. And you know what? I wasn’t too bothered.

Bilston is known for his poetry; starting there and gaining a huge following on social media. This book was his first novel and it is interspersed with his poetry as well. And as I said, I didn’t mind the fact that I was reading poetry as I was reading this book.

So, let’s talk about the poetry first, and bear in mind I am no expert (on anything probably, and yet here I am). There was a lot of humour in the poetry (some I didn’t get), but most I did. I enjoyed the linguistic jokes and the cultural references and I am sure anyone who enjoys his social media presence (check out his website here) that you would not be disappointed.

Since that’s all I know about poetry, let’s get down to the novel. The book is about a life; a “somebody” if you will. The character, Brian (possibly written because it reflects his own life? Hard for me to say, but it is interesting they share the same name), is a regular human. Maybe even less than regular as there is a typical dejection that follows him (or is created by him). The character; therefore, may be unlikeable to a lot of readers because of this naturalness of the character. Brian is unable to enjoy life, unable to see the good side, and often blames anything else but himself for his situation. What I found with the character however; is this didn’t bring me closer to Brian, it distanced me. However, there is a lot of humour and development of the story (not necessarily the character); that kind of ties it together. There’s almost a “Gumpness” to the character – but in a less positive way.

The remaining characters in the novel also do not seem to develop much, and as the story is told in the first person, you cannot fully understand what happens behind the minds of any of the other characters. 

In terms of story; it is rather slow. It basically follows the year in the life of Brian. There is not a lot of conflict or heart-racing moments; just like real life. The story itself is crowned by the poetry (this being its centrepiece and the story flowing around it). It may take some time to get into the story (for example the days about garbage); but every day is not full and exciting, and so it at least reflects life the way it should be. Or is.

I do think the novel is fun. It’s a short, quick read; even when there is no real pace. I will say that the poetry was great. Brian was interesting because he was so average, and it is nice to have a break from Adonises and Herculeses (if these can be the plurals?). If you don’t want an almost anti-heroic protagonist who is too human, don’t read the novel. But, you should definitely read it for the wordplay and poetry. If you must, skip the story … though I suggest you give it a shot anyway.

Links for you:

Title read-a-likes in the Library:

Less

Andrew Sean Greer

Author read-a-likes in the Library:

Uncommon type: some stories

Tom Hanks

This author was chosen for their use of dialogue and tone.