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The Magic Kingdom
The Magic Kingdom | Russell Banks
2 posts | 2 read | 5 to read
From one of America's most beloved storytellers--a profound novel about belief, betrayal, and the transformation of one corner of the country. In 1971, a property speculator named Harley Mann begins recording his life story onto a reel-to-reel machine. Reflecting on his childhood in the early 20th century, Harley recounts that after his father's sudden death, his family migrated down to Florida's swamplands--mere miles away from what would become Disney World--to join a community of Shakers. Led by Elder John, a generous man with a mysterious past, the colony devoted itself to labor, faith, and charity, rejecting all temptations that lay beyond the property. Though this way of life initially saved Harley and his family from complete ruin, when Harley began falling in love with Sadie Pratt, a consumptive patient living on the grounds, his loyalty to the Shakers and their conservative worldview grew strained and, ultimately, broke. As Harley dictates his story across more than half-a-century--meditating on youth, Florida's everchanging landscape, and the search for an American utopia--the truth about Sadie, Elder John, and the Shakers comes to light, clarifying the past and present alike. A dazzling tapestry of love and faith, memory and imagination, The Magic Kingdom questions what it means to look back and accept one's place in history. With an expert eye and stunning vision, Russell Banks delivers a wholly captivating portrait of a man navigating Americana and the passage of time.
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Sophronisba
The Magic Kingdom | Russell Banks
post image

Absolutely delighted that Russell Banks has written the novel I've been wanting to read since I wrote a term paper on the Shakers in college.

Sophronisba This book feels so specifically targeted to me that Banks might as well have dedicated it to “that woman in Michigan who's still mad I didn't win the Pulitzer for Lost Memory of Skin.“ 1y
16 likes1 comment
blurb
Sophronisba
The Magic Kingdom | Russell Banks
post image

But why would I want to revisit a place that I regard as the opening wound in a wounded life?

#SundaySentence