The Good Mayor - another book read

I recently finished reading The Good Mayor by Andrew Nicoll. Read more about it here at Amazon.ca. I really enjoyed the book , especially the honest and poignant observations about human nature. It has a quirky but sweet style and is a love story, though not in the harlequiny sense. Someone mentioned that it reminded them a bit of Stephen Leacock and someone else said it brought Amelie to mind (it being one of my favourite movies). I wasn't quite so enamoured of the last part of the story, I must say, but the first parts and the unusual story-telling style and beautiful writing made up for it. The author obviously has a love of language.

From The Globe and Mail review:

Nicoll caresses words. The story is full of sensual detail, of brass bands, fat night moths, dewy cakes – and snows “sweeping the town with frozen feathers that fell into the Ampersand with a hot hiss.” It takes place in an alternative mid-20th-century time frame of clattering typewriters, high heels and trams.

The story works because it is beautifully told.

That last comment is exactly how I feel about it.

Here is the publisher's blurb:

This magical debut novel is a love story. It is also a story of loss, magic, friendship, wonderful food, a brass band, an Italian witch, a large lawyer, an occasional dog and a car chase at a walking pace. Set in the little town of Dot in a forgotten part of the Baltic, it tells the life of Tibo Krovic, the good and honest mayor of Dot, and his love for his secretary, the beautiful, lonely — and married — Mrs. Agathe Stopak. In the quiet, respectable town there is nothing that Tibo can do about his love for Mrs. Stopak. Then one day, when she accidentally drops her lunch into a fountain, everything changes — and their lives will never be the same.

After Note:

How cool is this?!! The author, Andrew Nicoll, just emailed me and thanked me for my kind words!! WAY COOL!

The Good Mayor - another book read