NIGHTWOOD

History, trauma, and folklore intertwine in a Ukrainian immigrant’s American dream in Gomel’s novel.

Alyona “Ally” Morris is a recently married Ukrainian immigrant determined to live the American dream upon escaping the violence and instability she faced during the fall of the Soviet Union. She’s convinced that she can be the golden-haired, youthful counterpart to her middle-aged, wealthy husband, Carl. Ally navigates her new life, feeling alienated as an immigrant while pondering the mysterious death of Carl’s first wife and her own tragic past. She also seeks to familiarize herself with the endless, shadowy landscape of redwoods. One night, her husband is abducted by forces beyond her understanding. Her home of Berkeley, California, is revealed to be intertwined with Nightwood, a land where folklore and fairy tales collide with real-life history. Time is controlled by what appear to be ominous Red, White, and Black Horsemen, and Ally finds herself enslaved by Little Mother, a tiny being with “gossamer-thin hair” whose farmyard contains grotesque creatures. As she navigates Nightwood, armed only with three magic items that look like ordinary objects (a comb, matches, and a handkerchief), Ally meets people from the past and present, including figures from her own life, who are trapped in the strange land as darker, more troubled versions of themselves. Ultimately, she must confront the terrifying ruler of Nightwood, the Ogre in the Castle With No Windows, as well as her own demons. The key theme of Gomel’s novel is that “All fairytales had been history once,” and to that end, it effectively combines classic tropes of fantasy and folklore, such as talking human-animal hybrids and a hero on a quest, with characters affected and motivated by very real present and historical traumas, ranging from the Holocaust to the trafficking and abuse of Nigerian girls. The inclusion of a large cast of characters in increasingly convoluted situations can make the work a confusing read at times. Despite this, the novel is unquestionably an intensely creative, hard-hitting work with a suspenseful storyline and empathetic yet critical deliberations on human suffering.

An eerie and imaginative melding of history and fantasy.