The Magician’s Assistant by Ann Patchett – 3 Stars

[Hannah]

I really liked The Dutch House when I read it last year, so I was hoping that this would be just as good. The story centres around Sabine as she comes to terms with the death of her friend and husband, the magician Parsifal. Whilst a likeable book, it didn’t come close to The Dutch House. The plot was quite simple, telling the story of the deceased characters through the memories of their living relatives, but the ending a bit abrupt, which made me feel that there was no resolution to the story, and that whilst we gained a lot of insight into the nature of relationships and love, not much actually happened.