The Manor of Dreams by Christina Li
Thanks to Avid Reader Press/Simon & Schuster and
NetGalley for providing me with an advanced copy of Christina Li’s exciting and
intriguing new novel The Manor of Dreams. I enjoyed this book for its
genre bending story and plot twists, as well as tracking how the characters
have changed and what events affected them throughout their lifetimes in the
alternating timelines between past and present. Furthermore, Li has some lucid
and haunting descriptions of the atmosphere, landscape, and decay for the
setting of this novel in a renovated family mansion that has fallen into
disrepair once again. While this supernatural mystery might not be for
everyone, I thought that Li’s writing, plot twists, and characters created a
compelling and engaging world that kept me reading during the second half of
the book. I also loved the play on words with the title, how it might refer to
a dream house, but it is also about the nature of our dreams and what they
mean. Vivian Yin, one of the main characters, experiences strange, haunting
visions once she moves into Yin Manor, the house of her husband’s family that
he has renovated for both of them. Other characters also experience similar
strange visions, tremors in the middle of the night, and plants that seem to
want to consume people.
The Manor of Dreams starts with the recent death of
one of its main characters, Vivian Yin, the first Chinese actress to win an
Academy Award. Her surviving daughters, Rennie and Lucy and Madeline, Lucy’s
daughter, arrive at the house to review the will and sort through their Ma’s
items. However, they were unaware that the daughter of her mother’s housekeeper
and gardener, Elaine Deng, would be in attendance with her daughter Nora. “Part
One: Root” establishes an incredible amount of tension between these two groups
of women, the Yins and the Dengs. Lucy and Rennie have not seen Elaine for some
time, and based on the tension and Elaine’s rule that Nora should not speak to
the Yins, Li has established that there is some bad feelings and resentment
between these two families. To add to the tension, Lucy and Rennie are
surprised to learn that their mother only had about $20,000 to leave them as an
inheritance, and Vivian left the house to Elaine. This surprise gift, along
with learning that Vivian changed her will about one week prior to her death
adds to Lucy’s suspicion that Elaine had something to do with Vivian’s death.
Lucy begins to investigate, while Elaine digs in and claims the house as her
rightful inheritance, although she does allow Lucy, Madeline, and Rennie to
stay in the house and sort through Vivian’s things for the week. Lucy really
wants to search around for evidence of Elaine’s involvement in the will change
and Vivian’s death. This section also establishes some of the traits of these
characters as we learn that both Lucy and Rennie lived privileged lives,
attending boarding schools. Lucy became a lawyer, while Rennie pursued acting
and modeling. Neither was particularly close with Vivian in her last years, as
Vivian seemed to become a recluse, rarely going out and even firing home help
aides that Lucy hired. We also learn that Elaine was in a PhD program, but
eventually left since it was not a career for her and Nora was about to be
born. Both daughters, Madeline and Nora, are right around the same age, yet have
had different experiences that bring them to this strange encounter over a contested
house. Furthermore, both daughters receive warnings to keep out of the garden,
yet both are somehow drawn there, with Madeline eventually ending up there.
This garden appears strange, and offers some of Li’s most atmospheric and
interesting descriptions: “She leaned in, expecting the buds to have a faint,
sweet scent. But instead the petals emitted that raw, sharp odor of rust.” Flowers,
especially these kinds of strange, decaying and rotting varieties, feature
prominently throughout the book, and not only contribute to the atmospheric mood
of the book, but also represent the kind of decay and rot that is apparent throughout
the house as well. Li’s writing and descriptions of the various decay around the
house contribute to the feeling that death and decay are all around, and this
kind of rotten decay is gradually overtaking the living, having some kind of
impact on their behavior, their well-being, and their interactions with one another.
I loved the way that Li includes this kind of symbolism throughout the book,
and how the decay permeates throughout the plot. This section ends with Madeline
somehow being engulfed by the plant and Nora coming to her rescue, tending to the
wounds that the plant inflicted. I read The Ruins by Scott Smith last
summer, and Li’s The Manor of Dreams might come in second to having some
of the creepiest plants in a book.
“Part Two: Bloom” begins to examine the past to learn more
about how Vivian Yin met her husband, the actor Richard Lowell, and how Vivian
eventually broke into acting and attained acclaim and an Academy Award. These
chapters alternate between the 70s, 80s, 90s, and the present. I also enjoyed
the structure of the book, how readers are confronted with this mystery of why
Vivian didn’t leave the house to her daughters, but rather to the daughter of her
gardener and housekeeper with whom she seemingly had no contact for decades.
These chapters gradually reveal what happened, helping readers understand not
only Vivian’s background, but also those of Elaine and her younger sister
Sophie. We not only learn more about Vivian’s experiences and struggles as a
single mother and aspiring actress in 1970s California, but we also see the
challenges she faces as a person of color and how limited roles were for her in
films. Richard, on the other hand, seems to be a coveted actor who winds
acclaim and seems to easily take on roles in popular and acclaimed movies.
Nevertheless, the couple has a kind of competitive spirit between them that
pushes them to excel in acting and to seek out other opportunities in
filmmaking. Furthermore, Richard is interested in renovating his mother’s
childhood home, which the family sold years ago. His fixation on the past and
desire to recreate the past glory of his family in his own image bring about
challenges, as he and Vivian experience a long period of fixing up the house,
that almost never seems to end. Furthermore, when they move in, there are strange
occurrences like tremors that only Richard feels, burst pipes, and hallucinations
that Vivian witnesses. Vivian learns more about Richard’s family, although she learns
through local library research since Richard doesn’t seem to want to discuss his
family’s background. I found this a little odd, not only with Richard, but with
so many of the characters in the book. While Richard especially seemed
interested in rehabbing his family manor and reshaping it into his own vision,
he didn’t really want to talk about his family history. Lucy, Rennie, and
Elaine also don’t like to discuss their pasts with their daughters, and it
seemed strange that they were all willing to meet up in this decrepit house and
fight over its ownership, despite not really acknowledging the painful pasts
that they share. However, I think that this is part of the message in the book-
that there are consequences for failing to acknowledge one’s past, and that
sometimes, failing to acknowledge the past can create a kind of haunting experience.
I won’t provide any additional plot details because there
are many twists and unexpected turns throughout the book. Furthermore, Li’s parallel
narratives that move between the present and the past help to unravel the
mystery of why Vivian was leaving the home to Elaine and not her daughters.
Initially, we are only left with Vivian’s final words to her lawyer, Reid
Lyman, that leaving the home to her daughters would “ruin them.” As we move
through Vivian’s past, her relationship and marriage to Richard, and the
challenges she faced in Hollywood as an actor of color trying to find parts, we
learn more about the steps she’s taken to protect her daughters and ensure they
have the best in their lives. We also see that Richard’s family, including his
mother, whose microaggressions towards her new daughter-in-law, distance
themselves from the house, leaving readers to wonder whether the house itself
is cursed, or whether there are other factors that may affect inhabitants of
the house. I appreciated the ambiguity and mystery in this story, and Li’s gradual
reveal of the backstory presents some intriguing events and twists. However, Li’s
descriptions of the house, gardens, and flowers were especially evocative and effective
in conveying the sense of decay and decadence within the home. This was the
section that I couldn’t put down, and the short chapters that offered
alternating perspectives of the different characters and their histories kept
me engaged in the story. There is a final part of the book, “Rot”, that jumps
back to the present and provides a climatic end to the story. Again, I don’t
want to spoil this book since I hope that others will read it. Nevertheless, I
really enjoyed this book. It wasn’t exactly what I expected. Although it is
mysterious, I appreciated Li’s use of a kind of gothic horror throughout. Li
presents a unique portrayal of the haunted house story, and leaves readers
wondering about the nature of deceit, evil, and violence in relationships.
Furthermore, it was interesting to note that these aren’t just romantic
relationships, but we also see family relationships, and how withholding
information and past events can impact our relationships with parents and
siblings. Li’s symbolic use of decay throughout, whether in the house, plants,
or even the hallucinations that some characters experience, also help to create
the mysterious and eerie atmosphere of the book. I also appreciated how Li
included Chinese language- characters and words- throughout the book to
emphasize Vivian’s heritage and how she worked to maintain her culture in an
industry and city that tended to stereotype her. It’s not something that I
mentioned throughout this review, but it is another important part of the book.
This is an exciting and engaging read. Highly recommended!
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