I Cheerfully Refuse - Leif Engler
“I Cheerfully Refuse” is a beautifully crafted dystopian story taking us on protagonist Rainy’s journey as he sails the Great Lakes when life as he knows it doesn't fit an ever changing world any longer.
The story begins with a picturesque romance between Lark and Rainy who live a happy married life in Icebridge and have lots of love to give to one another. But the idyll is short lived.
“We’d got past our early days together and no common warnings had flashed. Not that I’d have noticed—I was lost already and wanted to spend it all on her, the days and nights, the whole foreseeable.”
Lark runs a bookstore and comes across a rare edition never seen before. Kellan, the person who brings it in, is on the run from a drug kingpin dealing suicide pills and stays with Lark and Rainy temporarily.
And so it goes that the darkness reaches their home. Grief and threat ensues, and Rainy sets sail in search of Lark, of lost love, of the world as it once was.
The story is a beautiful mix of dystopian novel, mystery, and even a bit of a thriller. It held my suspense throughout.
But more than just those well executed tropes, I enjoyed the lyrical writing, the beautiful descriptions of nature, the stunning way the emotional journey was told. While the dystopian aspect of the book gives the impression that people aren't really all that alive, that humanity is drawing to a close, it's that inner world in Rainy, Lark, and a girl named Sol that's full of magic and wonder.
The book also weaves literature into the narrative as a forgotten and even mistrusted art, making this novel a multifaceted work of literary fiction with many beautiful layers.
“By this time of course reading itself was slipping into shadow. There was a sinuous mistrust of text and its defenders. The country had recently elected its first proudly illiterate president, A MAN UNSPOILT as he constantly bellowed, and this chimp was wildly popular everywhere he went.”
I loved this gem. It's quiet. It's powerful. Beautiful, lyrical, special.
I'm so grateful to Grove Atlantic and Netgalley for the Advance Reader's Copy. I quoted a few beautiful passages of the text - these are subject to change in the final publication.
