The Maker Of Swans by Paraic O'Donnell

 

It's a strange household, this mansion in the countryside.  The owner, Mister Crowe, is the member of a secret cult where his talents are revered.  But he has given all that up and lives quietly in the countryside.  The only other occupants are Eustace, the butler and his young ward, Clara.  Clara also has powers although she doesn't know it yet.  She is mute and lives happily in the country, roaming the fields and forests and gardens of the estate.  There is also always a floating assortment of Mr. Crowe's women but no one pays them much mind as they are temporary.

Then violence.  One night an opposing member of the cult sends men to take Clara.  Although Mr. Crowe shoots one of them, they manage to get away with her.  Eustace, who was the closest person to Clara, is stunned.  He cannot believe that he has failed to protect her.  Clara is held for ransom, but not of money.  Her captors want Mr. Crowe to rejoin and perform something that only someone with his powers can do.  

The household falls apart.  Eustace has a breakdown and leaves, to stay inebriated in the rum spots and pleasure houses of London.  Mr. Crowe becomes even more of a recluse and falls under the influence of the latest woman.  But things change when one of the men who Eustace had hired as a bodyguard finds a clue of where Clara is being kept.  Can she be brought back home?

Paraic O'Donnell is an Irish author.  What is it that makes the Irish such wonderful storytellers?  I was totally entranced by this novel, its mysteries, its language and its revelations.  It's even more astonishing when the reader discovers that this is his debut novel.  I listened to it and the narrators were amazing.  There was a male and female and both were wonderful.  The female brought Clara to life as a young girl but when she voiced the statements of the woman in residence, I could almost see her stretched out on a chaise lounge, with a cigarette holder, languidly speaking.  There are things that are never explained such as the powers Mr. Crowe and Clara have or the thing that her kidnappers want him to do but it doesn't matter in the end.  This is one of my favorite books I've read recently and recommended for both fantasy and literary fiction readers.