The Weight of Feathers by Anna-Marie McLemore
Format/source: Hardcover/Library
Published: September 2015
Publisher: Thomas Dunne
Length: 308 pages
Genre: Young adult magical realism
★★★★
Review
The Weight of Feathers, Anna-Marie McLemore’s debut novel, tells the story of two families of entertainers caught up in a bitter feud. The French Romani Corbeaus walk in trees and the Latinx Palomas swim as mermaids, travelling to small towns in California for performances. The Weight of Feathers explores themes of family, loyalty, and love with a touch of magical realism. The book is #ownvoices for Latinx representation.
The premise of feuding families and a young romance invokes Romeo and Juliet, but Lace Paloma and Cluck Corbeau’s story pushes beyond that tale. The night that Lace makes her debut as a mermaid in her family’s show, she is caught in a dangerous rainstorm of cyanoacrylate released by the town’s poorly regulated factory. Cluck saves her; though he does not realize she is a Paloma, she knows he is a Corbeau. Cast out by her family’s matriarch for being touched by a Paloma, Lace finds herself working as a makeup artist for the Corbeaus, in hopes of repaying the debt she believes she owes Cluck for saving her life. As the two start falling for each other, they begin to untangle the threads of their families’ history and learn that what they have been brought up to believe about one another has little foundation in truth. Chapters alternate between Lace and Cluck, from a third person limited perspective.
The complex relationships that Lace and Cluck have with their families drive the plot. Cluck’s family treats him as an outsider, whose feathers grow red instead of black. Cluck’s mother, the family matriarch, ignores the abuse his brother inflicts on him. Cluck remains close with his maternal grandfather, who hopes to see Cluck one day leave the entertaining business. Lace fits in well enough with her family, though she is closest to her father and her aunt, both of whom married into the family. Lace and Cluck’s family expect utmost loyalty for them, which is why Lace’s ‘betrayal’ of allowing a Corbeau to touch her sees her cast out of her family. Both Lace and Cluck believe their family’s superstitions and prejudices about the other’s family. Lace and Cluck’s varied relationships with their family members challenges both the notion of who we call family and loyalty to that family. The tense family relationships create a high drama, high stakes narrative.
Another key relationship in the narrative is the romance between Lace and Cluck. Lace, who approaches the Palomas with deep suspicion and some fear that their black magic will hurt her, only gradually comes to realize they are not the vicious and murderous magical family she had been led to believe. Lace and Cluck’s romantic relationship develops as they shed harmful beliefs about each other’s family. Instalove and a stereotypically masculine love interest are absent from the narrative. The development of a romantic relationship amidst a family feud make this romantic plot unique among young adult narratives.
While the field of young adult literature has rapidly expanded in the past two decades, it has only recently begun to include magical realism. Magical realism originated in Latin American literature. McLemore, a Latinx author, has described magical realism as difficult to define, but points to how the idea of the magical is handled (as though it were ordinary) and the fact that magical realism has roots in oppression (McLemore, 2015). The scales on the Palomas’ skin and the feathers in the Corbeaus’ hair have no explanation, while their story is one that explores a sense of magic amidst a community of oppression. The story’s ethereal, wistful narrative style matches the magical aspect of the genre, while the realism grounds itself in contemporary issues such as poor regulation leading to pollution and injury.
The italicization of frequently used French and Spanish words is at times distracting. As Latinx authors have noted, italicizing words used in code switching interrupts the flow of the writing by overemphasizing the non-English words (Older, 2014). It is unclear whether such italicization in this novel is a stylistic or editorial choice. The novels McLemore has published since The Weight of Feathers do not italicize non-English words.
The Bottom Line
The Weight of Feathers tells a classic love story, made fresh by McLemore’s ethereal prose and infusion of magical realism. Recommended for fans of slow-building romance and family drama.
Further Reading
Discussion Questions
I wrote the review above and the questions below for my course on young adult fiction. My book circle selected three speculative fiction books by BIWoC. I wrote these questions with teen readers and/or librarians in mind.
- How did you experience the book? (Did you read the book quickly or slowly? Were you invested in the story?)
- What did you think of the prose?
- What was your gut reaction to some of the characters? (Ex. Lace, cluck, Abuela, Pépère, Nicole, Dax) Did that reaction change over the course of the story?
- Were there any parts of the plot that surprised you?
- What are some parallels between Lace and Cluck’s situations? How are their situations different?
- What did you think of the magical realism aspects of the story?
- How would the story have been different without these aspects?
- Have you read other Latinx young adult novels that can be classified as magical realism? How does this book compare?
- Did you read the epigraphs at the beginning of each chapter? Did any in particular stand out to you? What purpose do they serve?
- The Weight of Feathers was Anna-Marie McLemore’s debut novel. She has since published three more novels, each of which are known for their representation of queer characters. Such representation is not found within this book. Why do you think that might be?
- Last week we discussed a graphic novel. How would you adapt The Weight of Feathers into a graphic novel?
- Which aspects would work well in a graphic novel format?
- Which aspects would be more difficult to translate?
- Would you rather be a Paloma or a Corbeau?
- If you were a performance artist, what would your act be?
- To whom would you recommend this book?
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