The Marvels

by Brian Selznick

[wcs53]

I really enjoyed this book. It's two stories written in picture and prose, which, in the end, come together to form one. Two words to describe it would be magical and beautiful. It's not a difficult read, but there's a lot going on here nonetheless.

The first part of the book, which is completely written in pictures, describes the story of London theatre family, the Marvels, from 1766 to the turn of the 20th century. It ends abruptly and the second part, which is totally words, begins in 1990 with the story of troubled young boy who has run away from boarding school and ended up at the door of an uncle in London whom he has never met before. As his story unfolds, so does the part that the first story plays in the book as a whole.

In the end it all comes together well, but, I have to admit, not in the way I expected it to. At one point I thought it was going to be predictable, but it was far from it.

If you enjoyed Selznick's other two books written in similar form to The Marvels, The Invention of Hugo Cabret and Wonderstruck, then I'd recommend this one as well. It's well worth checking out, not just for the well-written story, but also for the wonderful artwork.