The Gargoyle

Strange and fascinating, THE GARGOYLE wanders from a contemporary burn ward to medieval Europe, with plenty of stops in between. Marianne Engle, who claims to be over 700 years old, tells the narrator (who's recovering from severe burns) of the love they have shared over the centuries, stopping only to disappear from the hospital for days at a time while she carves her grotesques and gargoyles in her basement. Hoppe's narration is sedate, almost sleepy. But do press on--while the style might be irritating to some listeners, the effect is bewitching and completely appropriate. The long days in the burn ward. The endless days of recovery. The vast passage of time Marianne's stories cover. Hoppe's performance reflects the plodding nature of both the narrator's struggle for life and his realization that his life is, after all, worth living. A.A. (c) AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine

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.

Starred review from October 27, 2008
The debut from Winnipeg writer Davidson is a sweeping tale of undying love between a burn victim and a sculptress of gargoyles who claims the pair have been lovers throughout ancient times. Brought to life in a spirited yet intensely personal reading by Lincoln Hoppe, the story resonates well beyond the first listen. Hoppe reads with tremendous passion and intensity, never going over the top, but always drawing his audience into the tale with a raw performance. Through suffering, pain, hatred and love, Hoppe captures the very essence of this enthralling tale and allows listeners to journey along wherever the tale goes. A Doubleday hardcover (Reviews, June 16).

Starred review from November 1, 2008
At a modern-day hospital burn ward, a patient recovering from injuries sustained in a car accident is approached by a woman claiming to have been his lover in another lifetime. Davidson believably weaves historical detail into his first novel, adeptly developing even the most minor characters. Actor/screenwriter Lincoln Hoppe (www.lincolnhoppe.comLJ 6/1/08.Ed.]Johannah Genett, Hennepin Cty. Lib., Minneapolis

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