Life of Elves (Barbery) - Book Reviews

Book Reviews
The Life of Elves fully delivers on its title. Ms. Barbery unleashes a complete magical menagerie, a kaleidoscopic cast that includes not only elves but also unicorns; a giant squirrel; a fantastical, shape-shifting wild boar; and an otter with a human face.... [The author delivers] an enigmatic and beguiling fairy tale, unicorns and all.
Alexandra Alter - New York Times


Obscurity may be [the book's] downfall, in both individual sentences and as a whole. Despite Alison Anderson’s skillful translation, Barbery’s images can unspool into incomprehensible abstraction.... At times, it’s simply hard to know what’s going on.... [Still, as] often as The Life of Elves confounds, in its many moments of weird lucidity it also beguiles. It’s then that Barbery explores the mystical connections between nature, art and the human heart with vividness and clarity.
Emily Barton - New York Times Book Review


As long as Barbery describes the concrete, known world of the villagers, her vision is clear, the details precise.... It’s when she tries to cross over to her other world, where an entity can have multiple essences...that Barbery’s uncertain language betrays an uncertainty of vision..... Try as I might, I could never quite believe in Barbery’s world of elves.... Sadly my all-too-frequent margin note was “What?!”
Pauline Holdstock - Toronto Globe and Mail


The Life of Elves is at once realistic and dreamlike. Barbery's poetic language and her endearing characters will direct readers.
La Vie (France)


Muriel Barbery has composed a hymn-and a call-to the ancient complicity of hands, minds, and nature.
Le Figaro


Nearly a decade ago, Muriel Barbery enchanted readers the world over with her novel The Elegance of the Hedgehog — and she’s back with a still-more twee tale of two children brought together by their almost supernatural connections to music and the natural world.
Huffington Post


Despite elven politics, Christianity, and war, the plot feels secondary and downplayed.... Just as battle is coming, readers are stopped by descriptions of the numerous participants, breaking the tension and typifying a reading experience in which the parts are greater than the whole.
Publishers Weekly


[A] gauzy, glimmering fantasy that has...drawn worldwide acclaim.... The magical frame and lush loveliness of the writing might be oversweet for some readers, but many fans of both Barbery and fantasy from writers like Alice Hoffman and Sarah Addison Allen will be enchanted.
Library Journal


Vivid imagery and a thread of mystery draw readers into the timeless and ethereal world of these young girls with a destiny to fulfill. Passionate and lyrical...a richly imagined tale full of enchanting characters whom readers will love.
Booklist


The conjoined powers of two magical children bring about a new alliance to thwart evil and unite the natural world in this fantastical novel.... Although possibly too abstract for children and too fey for some adults, this fervent, idiosyncratic fable is undeniable evidence of a richly lyrical imagination.
Kirkus Reviews