Magick in the West End: Stories of the Occult

by Kala Trobe

  Step inside Malynowsky's Central, a nearly-two-hundred-year-old bookstore teeming with tomes on magick and esoteric lore. Maybe you recognize the young woman sitting in the shop window reading Tarot for customers. That's Kala, who brought us inside a fascinating otherworld of true magick and myth at The Magick Bookshop in Oxford.

Kala continues her urban forays into Qabalah, Witchcraft, and the occult at this not-so-ordinary bookshop on the gritty West End streets of modern-day London. These seven vivid tales are filled with metaphysical happenings and unforgettable characters-including Sam, the sexually-frustrated art student with a heartbreaking past; Shahlia, the Kurdish mother on the run from an abusive husband; and the wise shop owner Mr. Malynowsky, who helps Kala break free from an unhealthy downward spiral that threatens everything dear to her. Winner of the 2006 COVR Award for Visionary Fiction

Genres: Occult

192 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 2005

Reviews

[Anna Hepworth]

despite the promise of the first two chapters, this wasn't worth my time. Do not recommend.

[Shandra]

This is a loosely joined set of short stories, continuing to follow the life of the protagonist from The Magick Shop, Kala. (Does anyone besides me wince when fiction writers use themselves as the basis for the main character?)

I once again found the writing style to be a bit much, while at the same time enjoying the author's large vocabulary and turn of phrase. It led me to consider not finishing it several times (over the top plus short stories, which aren't my favorite), and yet ultimately I did have to know how it ended. I would likely give more by this author a try if I came across it, but I probably won't seek it out actively.

If you're fascinated by Paganism, witchcraft, Wicca, Tarot or mythology, that raises the likelihood you'd enjoy these stories. If you aren't interested in any of those, I'd give it a pass.

[Tina Hayes]

Although I really enjoyed this author's style of well-crafted prose, I was bothered that everytime I got into one of the substories that make up the novel, Ms. Trobe would bluntly end the tale and take up a new one. She went in too many directions without delving too deeply in subplots that could have really held my interest. I would have enjoyed this book much better if she had half as many topics but expanded more on each of them.

[Vivienne]

I enjoyed this more than The Magick Bookshop feeling that the writing was sharper and that the teachy tendency of the first had lessened.

Kala Trobe still did place herself as the main character and blurred the lines of whether this was meant to be fiction or memoir. It just seemed a very odd approach.