The Gargoyle

Starred review from June 16, 2008
At the start of Davidson's powerful debut, the unnamed narrator, “a coke-addled pornographer,” drives his car off a mountain road in a part of the country that's never specified. During his painful recovery from horrific burns suffered in the crash, the narrator plots to end his life after his release from the hospital. When a schizophrenic fellow patient, Marianne Engel, begins to visit him and describe her memories of their love affair in medieval Germany, the narrator is at first skeptical, but grows less so. Eventually, he abandons his elaborate suicide plan and envisions a life with Engel, a sculptress specializing in gargoyles. Davidson, in addition to making his flawed protagonist fully sympathetic, blends convincing historical detail with deeply felt emotion in both Engel's recollections of her past life with the narrator and her moving accounts of tragic love. Once launched into this intense tale of unconventional romance, few readers will want to put it down.

June 1, 2008
High on drugs and alcohol, the narrator of this first novel by a Canadian teacher/writer crashes his car, which results in burns over most of his body. During his extended hospitalization, he meets a schizophrenic sculptress named Marianne Engel who confesses to being his lover for 700 years. The narrator, a handsome, self-absorbed porn star and producer, is indifferent to his doctor, psychiatrist, physical therapist, and nurses, but he is intrigued by Marianne's daily visits. Her persuasive stories about their past lives together and tales about the power of love in the lives of others throughout history draw him in. Then Marianne takes custody of the narrator, who enjoys her success from her high-priced sculptures of gargoyles and grotesques, which are created during increasing manic episodes that eventually lead to her hospitalization. Their roles reverse, and the narrator ultimately discovers that "only after my skin was burned away did I finally become able to feel." The narrator's personal development is associated in a mysterious way with the series of fascinating fairy tales and prophecies that is only revealed in the end. Davidson's debut is storytelling at its finest, featuring a lively assortment of characters and events that combine in a gripping drama that will keep readers' attention through the very last page. An essential summer book; highly recommended for all libraries.David A. Beronä, Plymouth State Univ., NH

Copyright 2008 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from September 1, 2008
Davidsons stunning debut opens with a hedonistic porn star drinking bourbon as he drives, until a vision of burning arrows rushing at his car causes him to crash through a guardrail and careen down a ravine. He awakens in a hospital, burns covering most of his body. Friendless, he loathes the doctors who are working so hard to heal him and plots his suicide. Into this husk of a life walks Marianne Engel, a beautiful sculptress whose first words to him are, Youve been burned. Again. Over time she tells him the story of how they first met and fell in love 700 years ago at a German monastery. His initial skepticism over the improbability of her tale, given the fact that shes been in the psych ward, gives way to curiosity and eventually love. He still isnt sure he believes her, but her taleand her presence in his lifegive him something to live for. Theres pure magic here, a classic redemption story with a hero so cynical, so damaged that it seems so unlikely that hell ever reach for or even believe in salvation. When he does, the reward is immeasurable. Davidsons Gargoyle is a rare gem: completely engrossing, wholly unforgettable, and utterly transcendent.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2008, American Library Association.)