After Reading: BELL WEATHER by Dennis Mahoney

When Tom Orange rescues a mysterious young woman from the flooded Antler River, he senses that their fates will deeply intertwine.

At first, she claims to remember nothing, and rumor animates Root—an isolated settlement in the strange wilderness of colonial Floria. Benjamin Knox, the town doctor, attends to her recovery and learns her name is Molly. As the town inspects its spirited new inhabitant, she encounters a world teeming with wonders and oddities. She also hears of the Maimers, masked thieves who terrorize the surrounding woods.

As dark forces encircle the town, the truth of Molly's past spills into the present: a desperate voyage; a genius brother; a tragedy she hasn't fully escaped. Molly and Tom must then decide between surviving apart or risking everything together. Dennis Mahoney's Bell Weather is an otherworldly and kinetic story that blends history and fantasy, mystery and adventure to mesmerizing effect. (Goodreads)

I haven't read anything in the magical realism genre in quite a while, and this felt pretty close. I reflected several times that this novel had a One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez feel to it. The characters were well fleshed out and interesting, though I'll admit to not feeling terribly connected to them. Molly kind of irked me, as some of her behavior felt over the top. Tom was interesting, and I would have probably enjoyed reading the entire novel about just him. It's funny how that happens--being drawn to one character and not the rest. Otherwise, the novel was well written and set up, though there were some slow parts and I did feel as drawn into it as I would have liked. I guess I would say it's just not my kind of book.

Do you enjoy magical realism? Read anything in the genre lately?