Book Review: Daughter of Calamity boasts an exquisitely expressed setting and dark atmosphere

Daughter of Calamity

Daughter of Calamity by Rosalie M. Lin is a darkly atmospheric, surreal historical fantasy with themes of colonisation, class, feminine power and sisterhood. Set among the streets and cabaret clubs of 1930’s Shanghai, Lin has created a city that feels like a mix of steam and cyber punk with its neon lights and mechanical wonders set amidst bath houses, ballrooms, temples and alleyways.

Jingwen, who delivers bones from her grandmother’s clinic to city gangsters by day and woos wealthy patrons of the Paramount cabaret club by night, is caught between powerful forces that threaten her very way of life.

Cabaret dancers around the city start losing their faces to a mysterious attacker and the stolen faces begin to appear on wealthy elites. Meanwhile the new proprietor of the Paramount has big plans for a locally sourced fungus with hallucinogenic properties, and a group called the Court of Exiles has declared their intention to save the city by bringing back the Goddess of Calamity.

As opposing forces vie for control of the city and its wealth, all Jingwen wants is to be safe and for her dancing sisters to be safe too − even if they are rivals on the dance floor.

The atmosphere and setting of this book is definitely its biggest strength. Even when it’s not clear exactly where the plot, with its many intersecting mysteries and characters, is going, the setting is irresistible and immersive, pulling the reader along through the streets, and bars and ballrooms along with Jingwen. It makes the reader feel like a tourist exploring a new city from the bright attractions to the more intimate local quarters.

Jingwen is an interesting character − in some ways a naive puppet dancing at the end of strings pulled by more powerful players, in others a pragmatic but hopeful woman just trying to get by. But, while naive characters often frustrate me, Jingwen doesn’t. The agency she does have she uses to good effect. She is aware that she is being manipulated and eager to act on her own terms, making decisions that benefit not just herself but her fellow dancers too.

There are a lot of points throughout the story where I felt like I was losing my grip on what was happening. Some sequences felt almost like they were hallucinations or dream-like states in the way they were written which made it difficult at times to untangle what was real and what wasn’t. But I think that also fit the tale being told and sticking with it through those moments soon revealed some clarity around what was happening. Again, it’s not something I usually enjoy, but something about the way this book pulled it off just made me happy to go with it.

Daughter of Calamity is likely to be one of those books that polarizes readers. Some will love the atmosphere and dream-like quality to some sequences while others will find the multitude of characters and plots difficult to navigate. But the complex ideas and exquisitely expressed setting make it definitely worth a read.

Black Convicts

FOUR STARS (OUT OF FIVE)

Daughter of Calamity by Rosalie M Lin is available now from Pan Macmillan Australia. Grab yourself a copy from a local bookshop HERE.

Jess Gately

Jess Gately is a freelance editor and writer with a particular love for speculative fiction and graphic novels.