Book Review of Close Your Eyes: A Fairy Tale by Chris Tomasini

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book stats:

258 pages, published 2021

you may enjoy this book if you like:

Literary Fiction * European Fiction

travel inspiration:

Set in 15th century Europe, this novel evoked the cobblestone-filled, rabbit-warren timelessness of Medieval Europe. And a castle, which I’ll happily visit in reality or fiction any day!

about the author: Chris tomasini

Chris Tomasini lives with his family in Toronto, where he works as an academic librarian. Close Your Eyes: A Fairy Tale is Tomasini’s second novel. It was short-listed for the Historical Fiction Company’s 2022 Book of the Year and won that group’s top award in the sub-category of ‘historical fantasy’. Tomasini’s first novel, Festival, was published in 2015. He is currently working on a young adult trilogy. You can follow what the author is up to on his website.

review of close your eyes: a fairy tale by chris tomasini

As soon as I saw the title of Close Your Eyes: A Fairy Tale I was intrigued. What hooked me was the term 'fairy tale,' making me reflect about how rarely that term is used in contemporary fiction, even when the foundational elements are employed.

I wonder if a reason for that is the way Disney cornered the market on fairy tales, stories that its audience walks away thinking are positive and happy even when they typically also have a deep element of darkness running through the tale. Of course fairy tales are not Disney inventions - not by a long shot - and many of theirs are based upon traditional stories rewritten for the big screen.

Close Your Eyes is a modern fairy tale, set in the distant past in the castle of King Pawel. The king spends his nights trailing the apparition of by his deceased bride around the corridors. By day, he has created a castle community with a dark secret: No one leaves alive.

The tale is narrated by Samuel, the court jester and a dwarf, who is reflecting on what has transpired in the recent past. A couple of inhabitants of the castle - court storyteller Tycho and court cook Agnieszka - have fled in the night, breaking away from the king’s control. From scrolls, letters, and journal entries, Samuel is seeking to piece together what led to their flight and to find a way to voice the other stories that have been woven in this community.

Tomasini’s work breaths life into the importance of story-telling and how through the narratives we tell about ourselves and our lives, we define and refine our purpose.

Story-teller Tycho was brought to the castle to regale the king’s two children with stories-on-demand, and newlywed Agnieszka has been removed from her husband’s home to serve as the cook. While being away from her husband is clearly a hardship, she holds on to the promise of a return home after she has served for a time. Naively, Agnieszka is the last to learn that when people displease the king, they disappear; when people please the king, they must forever remain.

Tycho is representative of the shoemaker’s children who have no shoes: He spends all his time telling stories of love and purpose but is unmoored in his own life. He has fallen in love, but it is with someone who can never return his affection. Compelled to make Agnieszka’s life a happy one, Tycho decides to put his own desires aside and help her return to her husband through a daring escape.

Close Your Eyes is a tale of love, hope, and finding meaning, made all the richer for juxtaposing those aspects of the story with their flip side: loss, hopelessness, and misplaced meaning, all represented by characters such as the king, his daughter’s suitor, and a clergy member.

Tomasini’s story-telling ability and beautiful writing make for a refreshing read. While his voice is definitely his own, I was reminded of Kazuo Ishiguro’s writing, particularly The Buried Giant, which is also a fairy tale. I look forward to future works by Tomasini!

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