Henry is a famous writer but it seems that his writing days may be over. Nobody seems to get his latest book at his publishers and they reject it. Meanwhile he still gets a lot of fan mail but one letter really intrigues him. It is from an elderly taxidermist and he has written a play but needs help with it. There is something about the request that transfixes Henry and he goes to visit the taxidermist in person.
He goes there frequently to help the old man finish his play about a donkey and a howler monkey—named Beatrice and Virgil. It is an allegory of the Holocaust. One day Henry invited the man to lunch rather than meet as his shop and it becomes very evident that the neighborhood hates the old man but Henry seems oblivious to it.
The book to me was written in a very disjointed way. In fact in it Henry’s publishers tell him his book is too disjointed. Because of this, it took me a long time to get into the story. I kept thinking, life’s too short to waste time on this book, but there was something that made me keep reading.
It did pick up mid-way through and started haunting me when I would try to go to sleep. The ending didn’t help my sleep either, I felt haunted for days. Would I recommend it? Hm.. I’m not sure but I did find it worthwhile for myself.
3/5
I won this book from John of The Book Mine Setfor a mini challenge during this year’s Canadian Book Challenge.
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