3.5
The Manikin
ByPublisher Description
The Manikin is not a mannequin, but the curious estate of Henry Craxton, Sr. in a rural western New York State. Dubbed the "Henry Ford of Natural History," by 1917 Craxton has become America's preeminent taxidermist. Into this magic box of a world-filled with eerily inanimate gibbons and bats, owls and peacocks, quetzals and crocodiles-wanders young Peg Griswood, daughter of Craxton's newest housekeeper. Part coming-of-age story, part gothic mystery, and part exploration of the intimate embrace between art and life, Joanna Scott's
is compulsively readable and beautifully written.
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Meet readers like you in the Fable For You feed, designed to build bookish communitiesThe Manikin Reviews
3.5
“I am biased because Joanna Scott was my professor at the University of Rochester. She was an extraordinary professor—brutally honest without compromising a personal touch. Scott made every story feel like it had potential, especially when I was skeptical of my fellow students, and she was also incredibly specific and introspective about her comments—you could tell she really spent time reading through every student's story.
So when I read The Manikin, perhaps I wasn't surprised that it seemed like Scott had deliberately chosen every written word with precise intention. Indeed, knowing her, she was the type of person to care deeply about the meaning behind a single word or a single sentence. When I picked up the book, The Manikin became a real place to me. It existed in some corner of Western New York that I'd seen before, but couldn't quite remember where. I could feel the winter snow and smell the muddy dirty road in spring. This can only be accomplished with a high level of mastery and concern for writing.
I've seen people express gripes with this book—the character's aren't vivid enough, and the story flows in a way that can be hard to follow. I don't disagree with these sentiments, but I pose some questions. One, I feel that the characters were simply a foil for the environment and the setting. At the end of the day, almost every character's downfall and success was dependent on the house, the land, and its owners. Case in point, the story doesn't follow Peg's departure once she leaves Western New York, highlighting the importance of location rather than character. Her perspective is only given to the reader once she returns.
Two, the flow of the story is rather interesting because it doesn't center one character as the main narrator, although the book is advertised as a coming of age story focused around Peg and the ending re-centers the narrative onto Peg. It was an ambitious move by Scott. I don't think that she entirely accomplished the feat of creating well-rounded characters, but I also think that it doesn't distract from the overall creativity and immersive nature of the book.
I read another book shortly after this that has been very popular for the last couple of years (won't name names, but probably will write a review for it too). Please fault me if I sound pretentious saying this, but the writing of that book shocked me; parts of it were totally mediocre, unbelievable, and (even) cringey, while others managed to hold my attention because of the plot elements rather than the writing itself. I'd like to think that we've entered a moment in literature (be it popular or not) where people are concerned with the quality of writing and editing. Sally Rooney is a great example; her books are immensely popular and adapted, but she has a distinct writing style that is both cohesive and interesting. All of this made me think of The Manikin and how gorgeous and distinct its writing is. I wish that it had garnered more attention (besides its Pulitzer nomination) because I truly think that the best books are the ones where you can tell there was a labor of love and where the words themselves actually mean something.”
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