Magick in the West End by Kala Trobe © 2005

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Magick in the West End  by  Kala Trobe  © 2005  Llewellyn Worldwide  ISBN  0-7387-0779-1  Paperback  177 pages  short stories  $14.95 (U.S.)   $19.95 (Canada)

Kala Trobe offers another thought provoking collection of tales set in modern-day London.  She serves another collection of stories which illustrate the blurring of the line between the mundane and magickal worlds; a collection of stories which the reader will, most likely, feel might have happened, or could have happened, or might yet happen if the circumstances are just right.

This collection of seven short stories is, once again, an eclectic gathering – from Sadboy Sam (is he or isn’t he connected with the Highgate Vampire?) to the Kali Furies (a self-admitted “Tale of Misanthropy”).

How much of this book is autobiographical and how much is purely invention is impossible to sort out and, ultimately, is unimportant.  The stories are entertaining and contain some truths which are passing along.  The heroine is not a perfect member of the magickal community.  She has her shortcomings, some of which are self-destructive and others of which are merely non-PC.  She is not all sweetness-and-light, nor is she all gloom-and-doom.  She is, in short, a living, breathing member of the human race and one that most of us can, at least partially, identify with.

As soon as I got this book I knew I was going to regret it.  Kala writes so well, and her stories are so believable that I hate to come to the end of her books.  I enjoyed her first fiction book (The Magick Bookshop) and found this collection just as enjoyable.  I can’t speak about her non-fiction, although I may have to dig up a copy or two of her books in that field just out of curiosity.  What I can say, without reservation, is that her fiction is among the best I have read set in the real world.  You have no doubt about the possibility of meeting her characters in the street, if you haven’t already.

I’ve said it before, and I will say it again.  Buy this book and enjoy the experience.

 

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