—Book Review—
Title: The Cartographers
Author: Peng Shepherd
Publisher: William Morrow
Genre: Mystery/Literary/Magical Realism
“We tend to think of maps perfectly accurate—after all, that’s the point of them. What good would a map that lied be? But in fact, many maps do just that. Unbeknownst to almost everyone who unfolds one and trusts it to take them to where they want to go, there’s a long standing secret practice among cartographer’s of hiding intentional errors—phantom settlements—in their works. Most of the time, these intentional errors are so small and well disguised, they’re never found. But every once in a while a phantom settlement doesn’t stay phantom. Sometimes, something magical happens.”
⬆️ This the Author’s Note at the very beginning of the book and really do I even need to write a review? Doesn’t that just entice you to want to read!? The @bookfriendsbookclub had the privilege to meet with the author and she told us that the seed that planted this story was a class in grad school when she learned about phantom settlement in dictionaries. Then a classmate mentioned it also happens with maps. Coupled with her love of maps she dream of writing this book for probably ten years before she finally did. And we’re so glad she did! I can’t recommend it enough.
Nell’s passion is cartography. Her father, Dr. Daniel Young, who is a well respected expert Cartograper is her hero. But all of that changed when he fired her and destroy her career really even before it began. All over a cheap gas station map!
Not on speaking terms, Nell receives a phone call that her father was found dead in his office at the NYC public library. There Nell finds the worthless map her Dad fired her over and she can’t help to wonder why and investigate it…
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ I love these type of genre bending books! I’m a newbie to the fantasy arena and dare I say I wanted more magical realism. I loved the author’s writing and will seek her out again.