The Maze at Windermere by Gregory Blake Smith Review

WARNING: THERE MAY BE SPOILERS BELOW

A richly layered novel of love, ambition, and duplicity, set against the storied seascape of Newport, Rhode Island

A reckless wager between a tennis pro with a fading career and a drunken party guest--the stakes are an antique motorcycle and an heiress's diamond necklace--launches a narrative odyssey that braids together three centuries of aspiration and adversity. A witty and urbane bachelor of the Gilded Age embarks on a high-risk scheme to marry into a fortune; a young writer soon to make his mark turns himself to his craft with harrowing social consequences; an aristocratic British officer during the American Revolution carries on a courtship that leads to murder; and, in Newport's earliest days, a tragically orphaned Quaker girl imagines a way forward for herself and the slave girl she has inherited.

In The Maze at Windermere Gregory Blake Smith weaves these intersecting worlds into a brilliant tapestry, charting a voyage across the ages into the maze of the human heart.

It was a year ago yesterday that I posted my first review. Huh.

There's nothing more satisfying than having your expectations met (except having them exceeded) and this is one of those times. If you'll recall, last year the majority of the books I actually planned on reading were not good, to say the least, with two even making my worst list. So the fact that the first of my most anticipated 2018 releases was actually very, very good is a huge relief and, closing The Maze at Windermere, I had a really good feeling about this year.

That is not to say The Maze at Windermere is perfect, or that it lived entirely up to my sky-high expectations. I mean, I went into this novel expecting a collection of short stories, and ended up getting a legitimate full length story with 5 separate narratives running at once. Of narratives, I liked 3 of them- 2011, 1869, and 1692- which is better than most stories with as many separate story arcs as this one. The two I didn't like- 1863 and 1778- didn't offend me in any way, I just found them on the boring side. Henry James is one of those Victorian authors I probably should read but I don't, and the one from 1778 just could not hold my interest at all. 

But of the ones that I liked, 2011 had the best story-line. It was interesting, had characters that were fun to follow, and had a lot of diversity, as well as fascinating insight into the world of the obscenely wealthy. 1896 was also good in that respect, and Drexel was an interesting character to follow around. His parts were the most under-baked though, which was sad since the Gilded Age is one of my favorite settings for stories. My liking of 1692 surprised me, since normally I wouldn't go for Puritan-era stories but I just liked Prudence as a character, not to mention that she stood out as the only girl MC. Also, she had the only narrative with an actual end, so I gave her points for that.

But even if I hadn't liked this novel as much as I did, I would still have to give Smith serious props for how talented he is at mimicking writing styles from different times, and each story was different from the other and, to the right person, each had interesting story lines that could hold their own, though I liked how Smith combined them all in the end.

I'm really looking forward to seeing what Smith writes next. Both the writing and story building in this novel are distinct and feel unique, and The Maze at Windermere was overall, a fun novel to read for any history lover. It's not perfect, but I highly recommend it.

8.5 out of 10