The Magician’s Assistant by Ann Patchett reminded me of her State of Wonder in many ways. Both stories begin with the female protagonist experiencing the death of a close male friend. The protagonist believes she knows everything about her male friend but then a whole set of information comes to light which was previously unknown. For Sabine, in Magician’s Assistant, she discovers that her friend of 20 years Parsifal (the Magician of said title) had a living family of origin. Parsifal had always told her that his family was dead so the story wraps around why he kept this information hidden.
Another parallel with State of Wonder is the protagonist traveling to an unknown place where more secrets are revealed. As I read the book, I would say, “that’s not the biggest secret, it’s still too early in the book.” I could tell what the last secret would be based on where it was in relation to the end of the book. There was also the parallel of there being just a little bit of real magic for something that is unexplained or fantastical.
Although formulaic and predictable, it was an easy read. This is the book chosen by my book club to discuss for November.
