The Land of Laughs
Ratings10
Average rating3.9
15
Ratings10
Average rating3.9
Have you ever loved a magical book above all others? Have you ever wished the magic were real? Welcome to The Land of Laughs. A novel about how terrifying that would be. Schoolteacher Thomas Abbey, unsure son of a film star, doesn't know who he is or what he wants--in life, in love, or in his relationship with the strange and intense Saxony Gardner. What he knows is that in his whole life nothing has touched him so deeply as the novels of Marshall France, a reclusive author of fabulous children's tales who died at forty-four. Now Thomas and Saxony have come to France's hometown, the dreamy Midwestern town of Galen, Missouri, to write France's biography. Warned in advance that France's family may oppose them, they're surprised to find France's daughter warmly welcoming instead. But slowly they begin to see that something fantastic and horrible is happening. The magic of Marshall France has extended far beyond the printed page...leaving them with a terrifying task to undertake.
Reviews with the most likes.
Fanboy meets fangirl
he lets her do the grunt work
lord knows she can't cook.
I wasn't too drawn in by any of the characters including (particularly) the protagonist, but the prose and interesting plot kept me invested. I loved the amount of care that went into creating a fictional author and his body of work; the process of writing a biography was pretty fascinating to follow, too. This novel really reminded me of the Inkheart trilogy by Cornelia Funke, which I'm a big fan of, not only with its premise but also its ruminations on the nature of free will and existence.
My first Jonathan Carroll book. Won't be my last. Fun and odd.
