The book we chose for our January 2013 book club meeting was "Enchantment" by Orson Scott Card. This is a modern day twist on the Sleeping Beauty story is set in Russia and the United States, involves time travel and plays with myths and legends in a fun and interesting way. The main character is a man who grew up in Russia, emigrated to the United States and then returns after the Cold War to do literary research, and is drawn by some force to a memory of his childhood.
This leads to him discovering the 'Sleeping Beauty' of the story and all kinds of things begin to happen. There are magical twists, family concerns, relationship differences across the ages and a lot of fun, romance, humor and action to keep the book interesting. I read it twice and enjoyed it immensely both times, surprised how much I was engaged both times with the story. There was clearly a lot of research done by the author as much is tied to mythical Russian tales and history. This firm foundation of knowledge made the fantasy of crossing time and facing a fairy tale head on plausible and fun to read.
Most of our group enjoyed the book though the common consensus was they were all a little surprised at some of the language in the book. It wasn't extremely bad-minor cussing, but sort of unexpected from an LDS author. It wasn't rampant, but I thought I would warn anyone who happens to read this review just in case they weren't expecting a few 'b' words. Mostly, I thought everything from awkwardness of changing times/embarrassing situations, and romance were handled with a tasteful and clever pen.
"Enchantment" was definitely enchanting and enjoyable, a fun read to start off the year!
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