The Curator is a beguiling story is set in a similar but alternate world to ours. A revolution has taken place in a city and country that is never named. The elites have fled, leaving power to the Provisional Government, led by a dockman, a university student and an octogenarian playwright.
With the city in turmoil, Dora, better known as D, hopes to get a job at the Society for Psykical Research and find out what happened to her brother, Ambrose, who did secret work for the Society and died years ago. But the Society’s building has been burned down and instead she becomes the National Museum of the Worker curator.
It is a strange museum, the wax figures shabby, their tools stolen. The city is uneasy and everything seems in limbo. The Provisional Government is yet to set out its new world order and the citizens are growing restless.
Described as Dickensian, magic and supernatural elements feature in this richly evoked world. Cats are worshipped as religious deities. The Morgue Ship has left its moorings and is being sighted around the city, manned by recently departed souls. New exhibits are appearing in D’s museum, as if a crack has opened to let in another world. Immerse yourself in this extraordinary story and be swept away.
Reviewed by Melinda Woledge
From New York Times bestselling author Owen King comes a Dickensian fantasy of illusion and charm where cats are revered as religious figures, thieves are noble, scholars are revolutionaries, and conjurers are the most wonderful criminals you can imagine.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Owen King is the author of Double Feature, and We’re All in This Together: A Novella and Stories. He is the coauthor of Sleeping Beauties and Intro to Alien Invasion and the coeditor of Who Can Save Us Now? Brand-New Superheroes and Their Amazing (Short) Stories. His next novel, The Curator, will be published in March 2023. He lives in upstate New York with his family.
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