An interesting premise but poorly executed. If ever a book needed a ruthless editor, this was it. Far too protracted and long-winded for what could have been a tense and compelling story. There’s drama enough here but by the time you get to it, you’ve lost the will to live. It’s the story of one man’s life from his boyhood in a Shaker community in Florida, where he and his mother and siblings are given refuge after the death of his father, and his rise to become a wealthy, but lonely, property developer. Although initially content amongst the Shakers, guess what? As a teenage boy he’s not that keen on their code of celibacy, and guess what again? He falls in love with a vapid tubercular young woman who has also been given refuge, and the result of this is bad news for everyone concerned. Not that I was concerned by this stage. Based on true events, this could have been so much better, because at its heart there is a good story, but the style is so flat and without affect, and it takes so long to get to the main event, that I lost interest and didn’t care about any of them, least of all the main protagonist. What was interesting were the descriptions of the Shakers and some of the other Utopian communities around at the time, but this wasn’t enough to redeem the novel. Disappointing.

The tantalising prospect of discovering what’s in The Magic Kingdom made me go for this book but it’s not what I had expected. Instead of magical elements that the title conjures up, the narrative recounts the life of one Harley Mann who had in his adolescent years experienced life in a religious utopian community - the New Bethany Shaker commune - in the early twentieth century. The commune, which subsisted on agricultural produce grown in its farms, was located in what would later become Disney property.

Mann’s widowed mother brought him and his siblings to the commune when he was a teenager. It was led by the charismatic but mysterious Elder John Bennet, whom Mann looked upon as a mentor.

Mann excels in his learning to be a bee-keeper and shows good potential to be a faithful Shaker member but he never took an oath to be one. He is happy with observing and practising the Shaker creed, such as celibacy, until he falls in love with Sadie Pratt, a consumptive young woman who comes to live in the community when her nearby sanitarium closes. While he feels they both enjoy a deep relationship, Mann has reasons to suspect that she is involved with Elder John. This apparent love triangle set the stage for discord, jealousy, guilt and deceit that culminates in a much publicised scandal in the community and ensuing court drama.

Ostracised by the community in the aftermath of the scandal, Mann leaves it to work in real estate investment, a business in which he makes a huge fortune. When he recently turned 81 years of age, he decided he should tell the true story of the New Bethany Shaker community and the people who lived there. As he prides himself as a good talker rather than a writer, he bought a tape recorder and some blank reels and began recording his story.

I like how the author Russell Banks starts the story by recounting how, years after Mann’s passing, he discovered the Mann tapes by accident in a public library and practically ‘stole’ them. It might have remained forgotten and probably trashed had he not done so. When he did listen to the tapes, he was enthralled by the story told by the voice from the past. Whether Bank’s account is factual, it’s hard to say. Readers will have to make their own judgments. This form of narration - use of recorded tapes - is new to me, but is an ingenious one.

The narrative is steeped in Americana. Being a reader who is Asian, many of the place names, events and utopian sects don’t resonate with me. Nevertheless, I enjoyed the story because universal themes such as love, faith, hard work, loyalty and betrayal are woven into the story to make it enthralling, heartwarming, and heartbreaking at times.

My thanks to NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read this book via an ARC. This review is given voluntarily.

A dazzling tapestry of love and faith, memory and imagination, The Magic Kingdom questions what it means to look back and accept one's place in history. With an expert eye and stunning vision... Thrilling and utterly compulsive! An incredible read, impossible to put down.

I thought the story was interesting, I enjoy a small community story and a tight cast of characters. The premise in how the story is told is a little different through the use of the tapes. While I don't think it will be a hit for everyone, there's a lot to enjoy. I think the closest comparison would be if you enjoyed where the crawdads sing, you will probably enjoy this,

A new Russell Banks title is always one to savour and The Magic Kingdom doesn't disappoint. A wonderfully immersive narrative about memory, love and loyalty not to mention an equally fascinating history of the Shaker community.