The Starless Sea

 The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern  498 pages

"Far beneath the surface of the earth, upon the shores of the Starless Sea, there is a labyrinthine collection of tunnels and rooms filled with stories. The entryways that lead to this sanctuary are often hidden, sometimes on forest floors, sometimes in private homes, sometimes in plain sight. But those who seek will find. Their doors have been waiting for them.

Zachary Ezra Rawlins is searching for his door, though he does not know it. He follows a silent siren song, an inexplicable knowledge that he is meant for another place. When he discovers a mysterious book in the stacks of his campus library he begins to read, entranced by tales of lovelorn prisoners, lost cities, and nameless acolytes. Suddenly a turn of the page brings Zachary to a story from his own childhood impossibly written in this book that is older than he is.

A bee, a key, and a sword emblazoned on the book lead Zachary to two people who will change the course of his life: Mirabel, a fierce, pink-haired painter, and Dorian, a handsome, barefoot man with shifting alliances. These strangers guide Zachary through masquerade party dances and whispered back room stories to the headquarters of a secret society where doorknobs hang from ribbons, and finally through a door conjured from paint to the place he has always yearned for. Amid twisting tunnels filled with books, gilded ballrooms, and wine-dark shores Zachary falls into an intoxicating world soaked in romance and mystery."

Okay, this is a long summary for a book that while lengthy, doesn't have much story to its story. Which is funny, since it's a story about stories. But it is very, very beautifully written and if you can keep track of who is who, and some of the intertwined storylines, it's a fantastic read. What does the bee mean? The key? Who are these people that Zachary meets and can he trust any of them? The story will shift beneath your feet so don't trust that you can trust anything -- just follow the threads as best you can. I re-read this book for a book group meeting and mentioned that reading this is like listening to classical music where the composer has a line --- a string of notes or a melody -- that you hear and then follow through the entire piece. If it's Mozart or Bach, the notes are sometimes hard to recognize because they may be in a different key or backwards, but part of the pleasure of listening is to try to find them.  And so it is with this book.