"You can do anything you want. You don't have to be the same person your whole life."I really liked this tale focusing on the elite of early San Francisco in the mid 1800s. Fowler writes of Lizzie Hayes, an unmarried well off woman who works as the treasurer for a white orphanage, the Brown Ark; and Mary Ellen Pleasant, a wealthy Black woman who has everyone in the Bay Area wrapped around her finger. One day, Mary Ellen drops off Jenny Ijub, a young child who she claims came from a rich family who was swept out to sea. The story goes on to follow Lizzie Hayes as she seeks the truth behind Jenny's roots, while also investigating the mysterious rumors surrounding Mary Ellen's lifestyle and power.Fowler is great with words, telling this tale in a prose steeped in gentility, but still quite humorous. I had a feeling that Ms. Pleasant would be cast as the "magical negro", what with her having so much power in such a time as this, coupled with rumors of her mysticism and voodoo, but it seems that Fowler did a great job of rooting Mary Ellen's power more so in the mind's of white people, and less a factual truth.This book was a bit confusing though, with so many characters making unnecessary appearances. By the end, I had no idea of what had happened, or the purpose of the story. I may need to read it again to grasp the point of it all.Nevertheless, I walked away having enjoyed this story and ready for more by Fowler.
After reading a few heavy novels (Tell the Wolves I’m home, The Girl on the Train) I was desperately looking for something uplifting and light-hearted to sink my teeth into. Fortunately for me, my friends have my best interests at heart, and Dear Sam loaned me her copy of Karen Joy Fowlers’ Sister Noon. This delightful historical novel, set in turn-of-the-century San Francisco drew me in to the genteel life of spinster, Lizzie Hayes, as she has a “magical juncture” courtesy of the local woman of notoriety, Mary E. Pleasant. Fowlers’ writing style for this novel drew me straight in and made me feel like a was strolling the dusty streets full of women in skirts, parasols and horse-drawn carriages alongside Lizzie, who has a mystery to uncover after Mammy Pleasant deposits a new orphan at the children’s home that Lizzie fundraises for. It’s a scandalous mystery, which has the potential to redefine Lizzies whole world. As Mrs Pleasant says, we don’t have to be the same people forever.It’s a great story, highly entertaining. I think in particular, because many of the characters really did exist, including Mary Pleasant.
What do You think about Sister Noon (2002)?
I chose this book because I enjoyed the novel "We are all completely beside ourselves" which I enjoyed. This one though reads more like a writing exercise than a well developed novel. (It was written 12 years prior; what else should I expect?) There are too many peripheral characters, none of them well developed, which could have been combined and filled out. And there was a prophecy that had nothing to do with the story really and that idea should have been fleshed out as well. It's an okay read, perhaps for the summer...
—Patty
It is said that a good book is one where the reader feels an involvement with the characters in the story, Karen Joy Fowler does just that in this novel set in San Francisco in the late 19th century . I am not a fan of period or historical novels but really enjoyed this portrayal of life in which San Francisco plays as big a role as the two main characters, Lizzie Hayes, a spinster in her early forties and Mary Ellen Pleasant. The latter being of dubious parentage – a coloured woman claiming to be white – that alone is enough to make the story interesting . Lizzie is the treasurer and fundraiser at a children’s home with a threat of having her income stopped if she ever marries – a stipulation of her father’s will.From the time that Mrs Pleasant leaves Jenny , a small dark haired, dark eyed child, to be cared for at the home , Lizzie feels things becoming a bit out of control. K J Fowler is a difficult writer to review , I love her lyrical descriptive prose but this book is very short on plot. I am also ambivalent about the ending because I thought there would be more.
—Jean
Set in San Francisco before The Earthquake that destroyed the city, has a great authenticity to the dialogue and the situation with charming little details like having birdshot sewn into one's hem so the skirt will not fly up in the wind.Lizzie Hayes is Sister Noon. Maybe. Or maybe Sister Night really isn't her sister. Many "maybes" in the story, but then that's how life often is. Mrs. Pleasant, who had passed for white, suddenly reveals herself as a freed slave. No, an escaped slave. No, a free black woman from Philadelphia.Written with Fowler's exquisite language and description, easily a book to reread and enjoy even apart from the interactions of the characters.
—Lynn Pribus
