The strength of setting and place in this novel, at least for me, was in the locations where women came together to support one another: Mae, Sheehan, and Knox together in Mae’s room where she lost her babies; Charlotte/Charles and Gwen developing their life-long friendship in Charlotte’s/Charles’ gigantic ancestral grounds of Fayne; and Miss Gourley’s Refuge, where mothers and daughters reunite/unite and where community among women is paramount to the survival and success of those who seek refuge there. Thank you to NetGalley, Author Ann-Marie MacDonald., and Penguin Random House Canada for my advanced copy to read and review. That side of them appealed to me, because I always loved womanisers,” she says. From the time she arrived in New York, she began to relish her sexual freedom in the same way, and on equal terms, as her famous lovers: “There were things about them that were bold and daring, yet endearing at the same time, and they allowed me to just be who I was.” They made no demands on her, no attempts to tie her down. When Hendrix came into her life, all that changed. The arrival of that tutor changes her life. She decides she wants to attend university, though that is not really an option for women in the late 19th century. Her father takes her to Edinburgh for an examination which she assumes is the first step towards admission, but it turns out to be entirely different from what she foresees. The treatment for her ailment is also something she never imagined. Thus begins the unravelling of deep and dark family secrets. I always say that they were not meant to stay here for long periods. I don’t know how to explain that. But it’s like their light... the light that shines the brightest burns out faster.

That MacDonald says “dot, dot, dot” with such cheerfully theatrical emphasis seems to speak to her very essence: in both her novels and in person she is as thoughtful and considered as she is playful and spirited. Fayne might be an unusually long novel by today’s publishing standards, but nothing is wasted or excessive. It is deeply perceptive, a story of sharp turns and blurred boundaries which negotiates Victorian fears about the loss of power and meaning while also illustrating MacDonald’s contemporary concerns about nature. Fayne uses language to slither and slide, elide and escape, but never to evade meaning or shy away from its purpose.I did like this book, and the Author’s words, but was not in love with it to be all right with the length of it.

I was honestly expecting her to be A rank Tier at least. Fayne is currently top 10 CB Damage Champ in the game hands down. She’s a complete monster that can pull 24m Damage in NM just by herself, and no not running an Unkillable Comp. (She’s only 42k Power) Whoever rated her like this for Spider, has probably noticed, like mine, she can hit for almost half a million on her A3 per hit. (Yeah I didn’t stutter) She has given only a handful of interviews in the 45 years since Hendrix’s death, because she doesn’t trust anybody else to tell her story right. A born raconteur, she has been writing her memoir, centred on her life with Hendrix in Harlem in the early 60s, where music folk and underground figures mixed freely. “We had lots of cop friends, lots of hustler friends, lots of music friends,” she says. She says it makes her laugh when people talk about the peace and love of the 60s. That wasn’t the 60s she knew, not in Harlem, not anywhere. “I knew people that shot other people up with battery acid,” she says.The dramatic irony for the reader is that we know more about Charlotte’s history and identity than she does, and are willing her to catch up. MacDonald considers her readers constantly, determined that we enjoy the journey: “As a reader myself, I think, where do you need a little breath? Where do you want the refreshment of some lyricism?” When she’s writing, she has the image of a little ghost reader, at once tender, inquisitive and hopeful, hovering just over her left shoulder. LGBTQ+ characters are scattered throughout Fayne, which MacDonald calls her queerest novel yet. There is the “nancy boy” who Charlotte’s mother encounters, and the gender- nonconforming sex workers who frequent a pub in Edinburgh. MacDonald was inspired reading about a late 19th-century movement led by German writer Karl Heinrich Ulrichs, who advocated to repeal anti-sodomy laws. “I love seeing the beginnings of movements, where you go, ‘What? People were doing that then?’” she says. “Yes, yes, yes they were! And it was really exciting.” There are characters who struggle and face discrimination, but also, notably, who find community and love, who “were completely integrated and precious to those around them, and whom they cherished in return”

Thankfully, Lithofayne Pridgon has stayed the distance. And maybe that was meant to be as well, written in her chart, for she has quite the story to tell.

Characters are developed in great detail and very realistically. As I continued to read, my feelings about characters changed, as more and more was revealed. A positive impression might not remain so and the same is true for characters who give a poor impression initially. For both Lord Henry and Lady Marie, in particular, I felt various emotions. Even for a villain, I could not but feel some sympathy because the reader is made privy to thoughts not openly expressed. Given the time period, women were not able pursue dreams, and a life lived in a secondary role may cause bitterness. Special thanks to NetGalley and the author for a free, electronic ARC of this novel received in exchange for an honest review. Charlotte Bell is growing up at Fayne, which is a lonely large estate with her father, Lord Henry Bell. It is a very secluded life for the young girl, who is sheltered from life outside of the estate. Charlotte’s mother and infant brother have died, and young Charlotte has a brightness about her and a longing to go to school and become a doctor.