- Hardcover: 320 pages
- Publisher: Riverhead Hardcover (May 1, 2014)
- ISBN-10: 1594631964
- Source: Publisher
Martin Strauss is a confabulist, an individual who creates alternative retellings of memories in attempt to recreate lost memories. Martin has just recently come to terms with this condition and, with guilt, now looks back on an incident that forever altered his life.
In 1926, Strauss punched Harry Houdini in the abdomen. Just a few days later, Houdini died due to a burst appendix. Strauss felt such great remorse for this incident that he now reminisces to the time where he killed Houdini not once, but twice. The story he weaves is a creative one. Starting with Houdini’s start as an illusionist (known then by his given name of Ehrich Weiss), Strauss walks the reader through a particularly interesting and unique tale surrounding Houdini’s life after he became an icon, including a stint in espionage and his dedication to disproving those individuals who claimed they were able to communicate with with the deceased.
At the surface, it all seems quite implausible. Yet, the story that the author constructs, shared by an admittedly unreliable narrator, is so well formatted that it is nearly believable. With all forms of magic, the audience is left wondering what to believe. The same rings true with this novel.
Galloway spends an extensive part of the novel creating and developing the character of Harry Houdini. The reader follows him as he discovers, and becomes skilled in, the illusions that would fascinate his followers. What makes this novel excel is how Galloway used fact and weaved into a new reality far more creative (no offense) than the original.
Perfect for fans of historical fiction/thrillers with a tinge of mystery, The Confabulist an incredibly engaging novel about the world’s greatest illusionist. Highly recommended.
