The Facts of Life (Joyce novel)

Last updated

The Facts of Life
Joyce FactsOfLife.jpg
First edition cover
Author Graham Joyce
LanguageEnglish
Genre Historical fantasy
Publisher Gollancz
Publication date
December 2002
Publication placeUnited Kingdom
Media typeHardback
Pages263
Awards World Fantasy Award for Best Novel
ISBN 0-575-07230-X

The Facts of Life is a historical fantasy novel by English writer Graham Joyce. It was first published in the United Kingdom in December 2002 by Victor Gollancz Ltd, and in June 2003 in the United States by the Atria Publishing Group. It is set in Coventry, England after the end of World War II, with flashbacks to the Coventry Blitz when the Luftwaffe bombed the city on 14 November 1940.

Contents

The Facts of Life was generally well received by critics. It won the 2003 World Fantasy Award for Best Novel, and was nominated for the 2003 August Derleth Award for Best Novel. The book was translated into Spanish, Portuguese, Italian and French, [1] with the French translation (Lignes de vie) by Mélanie Fazi winning the 2007 Grand prix de l'Imaginaire, in the Traduction and Roman étrange categories. [2]

Joyce said his research for the chapter on the Coventry Blitz was assisted by interviews he conducted with eye witness accounts. [3] This chapter was also published as a free-standing novelette entitled "The Coventry Boy" in the Autumn 2002 issue of the British horror magazine The 3rd Alternative . [4] The novelette was one of the preliminary nominees for the 2002 Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in Long Fiction. [5]

Plot introduction

The Facts of Life takes place in Coventry, England immediately after World War II, and is about the Vine family, comprising Martha Vine and her seven daughters. Martha is visited by ghosts, and her youngest daughter, Cassie is clairvoyant. Cassie has a baby, Frank, from a liaison she had with a soldier during the war. Frank also has psychic abilities inherited from her mother and grandmother. Because Cassie is wayward and fey, Martha delegates Cassie's six sisters with the task of bringing up Frank. The story tracks the first ten years of Frank's life, and the Vine family who take care for him.

In a flashback to the war, sixteen-year-old Cassie foresees the Coventry Blitz. On the night of 14 November 1940, as the Luftwaffe firebomb the city, Cassie wanders its streets amid the inferno and destruction, conversing with living and dead individuals. At one point she climbs to the top of the Coventry Cathedral tower and connects with one of the German bomber pilots. She makes him fly his plane out of formation, where it is easily shot down by British anti-aircraft guns.

Critical reception

In a review on SF Site , Gabe Mesa described The Facts of Life as "a deceptively gentle masterpiece of magical realism". [4] He said it is an appealing mix of social commentary, humour, history and fantasy, and called it "among the best of recent English language novels in the magical realist vein." [4] Mesa added that the chapter on the Coventry Blitz "may be the single most affecting piece of writing Graham Joyce has written to date". [4]

A review at Publishers Weekly stated that The Facts of Life "celebrates the strong bond of family and the deep well of sensitivity on which they all draw". [6] It said the book is "[w]arm with nostalgia and flecked with … subtle fantasy" that makes the paranormal appear "entirely credible". [6] In a review in Booklist , Brendan Dowing said Joyce "skirts sentimentality" and examines all sides of the close-knit Vine family to produce "[a] beautifully written" and "moving" story of family drama and magic realism. [7]

British novelist Christopher Priest wrote in an obituary for Joyce in The Guardian that The Facts of Life is often regarded as Joyce's best novel. [8] Priest said the book's "quality of writing, the detail and insight into the social background" has all the makings of literary fiction, but the fantasy elements resulted in it being labelled a genre novel. [8] In The Washington Post Zofia Smardz described The Facts of Life as "an astute portrait of England pulling itself together after the devastation of World War II". [9] She called the "haunting, dreamlike memory sequence" that Joyce uses to describe the Coventry Blitz as "the book's centerpiece". [9] Smardz said the novel is also about family, the "warm, sweet evocation of the kind of hearth most of us hurry from, then spend our lives hankering after". [9]

Reviewing the book in the Library Journal , Christine Perkins felt that Joyce was "less success[ful]" with this historical novel than with his dark fantasies. [10] She said that while the "vivid description" of the Blitz almost "carr[ies] the novel", the subplots concerning Frank's upbringing in the various households "bogs [the story] down". [10] Perkins opined that it could have been "a more focused, magical, gripping tale" if some of the sisters had been left out. [10] Paul Bateman also had mixed feelings about the novel. In a review in the British Science Fiction Association magazine, Vector , he called The Facts of Life "an accomplished study of a working class family in post-war Britain", and the images of Cassie's "unusual escapades" during the Blitz, "brilliant". [11] But Bateman felt that some of the story's episodes are not covered in enough detail, and that the book's supernatural elements are a little "too subtle" for him. [11]

Awards and nominations

YearAwardResultRef
2003 August Derleth Award for Best Novel Nominated [12]
World Fantasy Award for Best Novel Won [13]
2007 Grand prix de l'Imaginaire: Traduction for Lignes de vie (French translation)Won [14]
Grand prix de l'Imaginaire: Roman étrange for Lignes de vieWon [15]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Diana Wynne Jones</span> English childrens fantasy writer (1934–2011)

Diana Wynne Jones was an English novelist, poet, academic, literary critic, and short story writer. She principally wrote fantasy and speculative fiction novels for children and young adults. Although usually described as fantasy, some of her work also incorporates science fiction themes and elements of realism. Jones's work often explores themes of time travel and parallel or multiple universes. Some of her better-known works are the Chrestomanci series, the Dalemark series, the three Moving Castle novels, Dark Lord of Derkholm, and The Tough Guide to Fantasyland.

The Internet Speculative Fiction Database (ISFDB) is a database of bibliographic information on genres considered speculative fiction, including science fiction and related genres such as fantasy, alternate history, and horror fiction. The ISFDB is a volunteer effort, with the database being open for moderated editing and user contributions, and a wiki that allows the database editors to coordinate with each other. As of April 2022, the site had catalogued 2,002,324 story titles from 232,816 authors.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Crowley (author)</span> American writer, primarily speculative fiction (born 1942)

John Crowley is an American author of fantasy, science fiction, historical fiction, and non-fiction. Crowley studied at Indiana University and has a second career as a documentary film writer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jonathan Carroll</span> American fiction writer

Jonathan Samuel Carroll is an American fiction writer primarily known for novels that may be labelled magic realism, slipstream or contemporary fantasy. He has lived in Austria since 1974.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brandon Sanderson</span> American fantasy and science fiction writer

Brandon Winn Sanderson is an American, New York Times best-selling author of high fantasy, science fiction, and young adult books. He is best known for the Cosmere fictional universe, in which most of his fantasy novels, most notably the Mistborn series and The Stormlight Archive, are set. Outside of the Cosmere, he has written several young adult and juvenile series including The Reckoners, the Skyward series, and the Alcatraz series. He is also known for finishing Robert Jordan's high fantasy series The Wheel of Time. Sanderson has created several graphic novel fantasy series, including White Sand and Dark One.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Graham Joyce</span> British writer

Graham William Joyce was a British writer of speculative fiction and the recipient of numerous awards, including the O. Henry Award, the World Fantasy Award, and six times the British Fantasy Award for both his novels and short stories.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Martha Wells</span> American speculative fiction writer (born 1964)

Martha Wells is an American writer of speculative fiction. She has published a number of fantasy novels, young adult novels, media tie-ins, short stories, and nonfiction essays on fantasy and science fiction subjects. Her novels have been translated into twelve languages. Wells has won four Hugo Awards, two Nebula Awards and three Locus Awards for her science fiction series The Murderbot Diaries. She is also known for her fantasy series Ile-Rien and The Books of the Raksura. Wells is praised for the complex, realistically detailed societies she creates; this is often credited to her academic background in anthropology.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dennis Etchison</span> American writer (1943–2019)

Dennis William Etchison was an American writer and editor of fantasy and horror fiction. Etchison referred to his own work as "rather dark, depressing, almost pathologically inward fiction about the individual in relation to the world". Stephen King has called Dennis Etchison "one hell of a fiction writer" and he has been called "the most original living horror writer in America".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Russell Kirkpatrick</span> New Zealand geography lecturer and writer

Russell Kirkpatrick is a New Zealand novelist, geography lecturer, mapmaker and photographer. He has contributed to a number of notable atlases, and since 2004 has completed two fantasy trilogies. He is a three-time winner of the award for best novel at New Zealand's Sir Julius Vogel Awards. His books were first published in Australia and in the mid-2010s he moved to Canberra, where he now lectures at the University of Canberra.

<i>Dreamside</i> 1991 novel by Graham Joyce

Dreamside is a fantasy novel by British author Graham Joyce, first published in the United Kingdom by Pan Books in 1991. It was later reprinted in the United States by Tor Books in 2000. The novel's primary themes are the power of the subconscious and the futility of attempting to escape the past.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dan Wells (author)</span> American horror writer

Daniel Andrew Wells is an American horror and science fiction author. Wells's first published novel, I Am Not a Serial Killer, was adapted into a movie in 2016.

<i>Some Kind of Fairy Tale</i> 2012 novel by Graham Joyce

Some Kind of Fairy Tale is a 2012 novel by the British author Graham Joyce. A work of speculative fiction, it won the British Fantasy Society's Fantasy Novel of the Year award in 2013, and was nominated for the 2013 August Derleth Award for best Horror Novel, and the 2013 World Fantasy Award for best Novel.

<i>Son of the Black Sword</i> 2015 fantasy novel by Larry Correia

Son of the Black Sword is a 2015 epic fantasy novel by Larry Correia and published by Baen Books. It is the first book in the Saga of the Forgotten Warrior series. It was followed by House of Assassins in 2019. It won Best Fantasy Novel at the 2016 Dragon Awards, was nominated for a 2015 AML Award and the 2016 Gemmell Legend Award. The novel also placed ninth in the 2016 Locus Award for Best Fantasy Novel readers' poll.

<i>The Mask of the Sorcerer</i> 1995 novel by Darrell Schweitzer

The Mask of the Sorcerer is a fantasy novel by American writer Darrell Schweitzer.

<i>The White Isle</i> Book by Darrell Schweitzer

The White Isle is a fantasy novel by American writer Darrell Schweitzer, illustrated by Stephen Fabian.

<i>The Tooth Fairy</i> (novel) 1996 novel by Graham Joyce

The Tooth Fairy is a fantasy and horror novel by English writer Graham Joyce. It was first published in the United Kingdom in paperback in 1996 by Signet Books, and in hardcover in the United States in 1998 by Tor Books. It is about Sam and his friends growing up in Coventry, England in the 1960s, and a mischievous fairy who torments Sam.

<i>The Silent Land</i> 2010 novel by Graham Joyce

The Silent Land is a horror fantasy novel by English writer Graham Joyce. It was first published in the United Kingdom in November 2010 by Victor Gollancz Ltd, and in March 2011 in the United States by Doubleday. It is about a young married couple who are buried by an avalanche while skiing in the French Pyrenees. They free themselves, but find the world around them silent and devoid of people.

<i>Deep Roots</i> (novel) 2018 novel by Ruthanna Emrys

Deep Roots is a 2018 alternate history, fantasy and horror novel by American science fiction and fantasy writer Ruthanna Emrys. It is the third book in Emrys' three book Innsmouth Legacy series, after The Litany of Earth (2014) and Winter Tide (2017). The series is set in the Cthulhu Mythos universe created by H. P. Lovecraft, and builds on Lovecraft's 1936 novella, "The Shadow over Innsmouth".

<i>The Year of the Ladybird</i> 2013 novel by Graham Joyce

The Year of the Ladybird is a fantasy novel by English writer Graham Joyce, first published in the United Kingdom in June 2013 by Victor Gollancz Ltd, and in the United States as The Ghost in the Electric Blue Suit in August 2014 by Doubleday. It was the last novel Joyce wrote before he died in September 2014.

<i>Memoirs of a Master Forger</i> 2008 novel by William Heaney

Memoirs of a Master Forger is a fantasy novel by William Heaney, a pseudonym of English writer Graham Joyce. It is about a book forger and demonologist. The novel was first published in the United Kingdom in October 2008 by Victor Gollancz Ltd, and in the United States as How to Make Friends with Demons, credited to Graham Joyce, in November 2009 by Night Shade Books. The book was translated into French by Mélanie Fazi and published as Mémoires d'un maître faussaire in France in February 2009.

References

  1. ↑ "The Facts of Life". Internet Speculative Fiction Database . Retrieved 2 November 2021.
  2. ↑ "Lignes de vie". Internet Speculative Fiction Database . Retrieved 2 November 2021.
  3. ↑ "Writer draws on Blitz stories". Coventry Evening Telegraph . Coventry, England: Mirror Regional Newspapers. 17 June 2003. ProQuest   331959231.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Mesa, Gabe (2003). "The Facts of Life". SF Site . Retrieved 2 November 2021.
  5. ↑ "The Coventry Boy". Internet Speculative Fiction Database . Retrieved 2 November 2021.
  6. 1 2 "The Facts of Life". Publishers Weekly . 19 May 2003. ISSN   0000-0019 . Retrieved 7 November 2021.
  7. ↑ Dowing, Brendan (1 June 2003). "The Facts of Life (Book)". Booklist . 99 (19/20): 1743. ISSN   0006-7385. EBSCOhost   10164379.
  8. 1 2 Priest, Christopher (10 September 2014). "Graham Joyce obituary". The Guardian . Retrieved 7 November 2021.
  9. 1 2 3 Smardz, Zofia (3 August 2003). "Guided by Voices". The Washington Post . p. T.06. ISSN   0190-8286. ProQuest   409554333.
  10. 1 2 3 Perkins, Christine (1 June 2003). "The Facts of Life". Library Journal . 128 (10): 169. ISSN   0363-0277. EBSCOhost   9923763.
  11. 1 2 Bateman, Paul (March–April 2003). "Graham Joyce – The Facts of Life". Vector . No. 228. BSFA. p. 29. ISSN   0505-0448.
  12. ↑ "British Fantasy Awards 2003". Science Fiction Awards Database. Retrieved 1 November 2021.
  13. ↑ "World Fantasy Awards 2003". Science Fiction Awards Database. Retrieved 1 November 2021.
  14. ↑ "2007 Traduction (Grand Prix de l'Imaginaire)". Internet Speculative Fiction Database . Retrieved 1 November 2021.
  15. ↑ "2007 Roman étranger (Grand Prix de l'Imaginaire)". Internet Speculative Fiction Database . Retrieved 1 November 2021.

Works cited

Further reading

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.