Anastasia’s Midnight Song

by

M. Laszlo

An atmospheric and complicated tale of madness set at the time of WWI.

Because she imagines that an arctic fox exists inside her womb, Anastasia goes to work in a Sinai mirror factory, believing that will drive the presence out. While in wartime London, Jack watches as other young men, his friends, head off to fight, leaving him unable to overcome his cowardice until he strikes on an alternate plan of action that sends him to the Sinai as well, where he sees and becomes enamored of Anastasia: attention and desire she doesn’t return.

Anastasia’s Midnight Song by M. Laszlo is not a comfortable, easy book to read, yet it is riveting all the same. Told from the perspectives of the two main characters, Anastasia and Jack, I was mesmerized by what they were going through and kept off-balance by the fluidity of reality and fantasy. I turned the pages, hoping they each would find their way to peace and freedom from their hallucinations and depressions, but was unsettled by their ensuing descent further into their madnesses. 

The story’s settings are unusual, and the events of the time contribute to the characters’ problems. The author’s descriptions of 1917 St. Petersburg and the Sinai create a palpably heavy atmosphere that I felt I was constantly wading through alongside the characters. 

As the story unfolded, reality and Anastasia’s hallucinatory interactions with the arctic fox and Svetlana often merged, and I was uncertain what she was really experiencing, if there was still some reality at work. I also felt Jack’s fear of going to war was well-founded. His childhood ill-prepared him both mentally and physically for life in general; he was delusional as to his skills and future already, and a wartime posting would have been certain death, especially considering the transition the mechanics of war were undergoing during WWI. Still, his cowardice and inability to join in the conflict preyed on his mind with tragic results. 

With its character-driven plot and atmospheric imagery, I recommend ANASTASIA’S MIDNIGHT SONG to readers of literary fiction. 

I voluntarily reviewed this after receiving an Advance Review Copy from the author through Goddess Fish Promotions Book Tours.