Fabulous Fiction Firsts #264

Wed, 05/18/2011 - 7:28pm by muffy

It's not just another love story and I bet you would enjoy it.

Haley Tanner's wondrous debut Vaclav and Lena * speaks eloquently about the tenacity of young love.

Set in the Russian immigrant community at Brighton Beach, Brooklyn, Vaclav and Lena seem destined for each other since they met on a play date as children. Apart from the shared émigré subculture, the struggle to fit in and to get ahead, they also share a consuming secret - a magic act that they would perform at Coney Island's Boardwalk as "Vaclav the Magnificent and Lena, his lovely assistant".

One day, Lena disappears as if by a cruel magic trick. Angry and brokenhearted, Vaclav steadfastly says goodnight to Lena every night without fail for the next seven years. Then on her 17th birthday, Lena simply reappears, and with an unusual request for Vaclav.

"Haley Tanner (check out her website) has the originality and verve of a born storyteller, and the boldness to imagine a world in which love can overcome the most difficult circumstances. In Vaclav & Lena she has created two unforgettable young protagonists who evoke the joy, the confusion, and the passion of having a profound, everlasting connection with someone else."

Bittersweet and captivating. An upbeat readalike for Nicole Krauss' The History of Love.

* = Starred Review