You might remember that many months ago, I wanted to introduce my love of reading and books into proceedings here at Wheelie Stagey. I started with the “30 Day Reading Challenge” – a list of books that included categories like: “A Book I’ve Read More Than Three Times”, “Favourite Book from My Favourite Series”, “A Book That Makes Me Happy”, and so on. Unfortunately, for no other reason than I was struggling to balance life and blogging regularly at the time, I let those posts slide and eventually stopped them altogether.

This is me, then, making a conscious effort to reconnect with that area of my blog, and introduce Wheelie Stagey Reads! I’ve my good friend and fellow blogger/Youtuber Olivia a.k.a Stagey Bookish to thank for giving my motivation a much needed and very welcome kickstart; she very kindly sent me some of her recent reads that she figured I may enjoy. The first one I’d chosen to read is…

Midnight at the Electric by Jodi Lynn Anderson

I’m a reader that is often attracted to covers first when I’m shopping for books – I love bright colours and intriguing designs, and if a book has these I’m more likely to take it down from the shelf and read the blurb. Looking at this one, I had expected a sci fi/fantasy type adventure, but what actually unfolded was a quiet, poignant read about life and the nature of friendship, spanning three different time periods and following three different women: Adri, Catherine & Lenore.

In 2065, Adri is selected to become a colonist on Mars. In her final weeks on Earth, she discovers a journal that she’s fascinated by, looking to the past instead of her future for answers.

It’s 1934 in Oklahoma, and the Dust Bowl is tearing the land and the community apart. Catherine spends her time fantasising about life with Ellis, the family farmhand. As her situation becomes increasingly desperate, a strange travelling show called the Electric and a professor doling out promises of immortality enters her life, and Catherine faces a decision; one that could change things forever if she’s brave enough to risk everything…

The aftermath of the First World War finds Lenore Allstock grieving for her beloved brother Teddy. She has a plan to start a new life in America and reconnect with her dearest childhood friend. Worried she’ll even make it so far, Lenore also begins to question whether things will be as she remembers.

This is my first experience of Jodi’s writing and her style here both intrigued and frustrated me. I found it an incredibly “slow burn” of a book, and sometimes I found myself drifting and unable to see how the three stories are linked. I wish certain passages were longer,  and more time given to certain moments (particularly in Catherine and Lenore’s arcs, which I really enjoyed). Having said that, the nature of the story seems to call for that kind of slowness and intensity; Jodi has a real knack for evoking atmosphere and emotion with few words. There are moments, particularly with Adri’s story that are really perceptive and moving, especially this one from a conversation she has with Lily:

“Do you think I can change?”, she finally asked.

Lily looked at her, curious and thoughtful. “Well,” she replied “are you dead?”

That really stuck with me and I admire the way she is able to write so simply and beautifully about deep and pretty challenging things, giving them a sense of familiarity and a way I could relate to the sentiments. At only 257 pages, it felt like there could have been more to say, but I was  impressed by the way she told the story so deftly considering the jumps to different timelines. Another nice touch was the epistolary format in Lenore’s arc, I hadn’t come across a story told mostly through letters in a long while.

Character wise, I think Catherine is my favourite. She wrestles with her love for family, especially her younger sister Beezie and her desire to change her life, be more adventurous; I totally empathised with the latter element, and could see myself in her there. At one point, Jodi writes:

“I want my life to move forward, even if it hurts”. Again, that just spoke to me massively and touched a chord, as did Lenore’s arc as she deals with her own insecurities and conflicted feelings. It took me much  longer to warm up to Adri: she’s stubborn and a loner which was absolutely fine, I just felt like there were reasons for her being such that could have been explored in more depth, and maybe that would have helped me care for her and invest in her emotionally more than I did.

It did take me a little longer to finish than it perhaps should have given at the speed I normally read, but I’m glad I took it slower here: I could appreciate more what Jodi was trying to achieve that way, and it did stay with me for a while afterwards.

 

If you like character driven stories that are quiet yet intense this might be the one for you. Though it didn’t fully captivate me, I found parts really powerfully written and from my point of view it’s always refreshing to see female characters at the forefront, particularly also in the way that this story challenged my perceptions about what I was going to be reading! I’d love to read more of Jodi’s work, so please let me know if you’ve any recommendations. I’d also love to hear your thoughts on Midnight at the Electric – have you read it? Is it on your To Be Read pile? Tweet me at @wheeliestagey – I love hearing from you!