Eva Moves the Furniture: A Novel
By Margot Livesey
Henry Holt and Company
2001 (advanced reader’s edition)
Condition: Good; some scratches on front cover.
Why I keep it: intellectual [*]
Margot Livesey, a Scottish-born author, who has enjoyed a good career as a writer of literary fiction wrote one of my all-time favorite ghost stories. “Eva Moves the Furniture” explores grief and longing, particularly as it’s experienced by children.
Eva McEwan’s mother delivers her daughter in 1920 under the inauspicious omen of six magpies in the tree outside the birthing room window, and she stays “only long enough to bring me into the world.” As Eva grows up, under the care of her father and her aunt, two other mysterious strangers, a woman and a girl, begin visiting the household.
The catch is, only Eva can see them. At first, their presence seems benign. They teach her to gather eggs and encourage her to explore her world, but as Eva’s desire for freedom expands, the companions’ visitations takes on a slightly more ominous feel.
Eva grows up and becomes a nurse in WWII Glasgow, but she never outgrows her ghostly companions. Livesey builds a sense of dread throughout the novel, and she delivers an ending that shocked and surprised me.
Livesey’s prose stands as a fine example of crisp, clean writing that is at once lyrical and straightforward in its delivery. (I know, I know, how is that possible? But I swear there’s no other way to describe it.) Livesey has said that her goal is to write readable novels:
I think that I’ve always believed that literature could achieve its higher aims while still being entertaining and enjoyable, that it’s possible to write really good literary novels that are still a pleasure to read, and entertaining.[1]
The plot of “Eva Moves the Furniture” will seem deceptively simple, but by the time the reader reaches the final few words, the full meaning of the novel’s many events will begin to make sense. In fact, this novel is one of those rare books that made me want to flip it over and re-read it, if only to catch some of the subtle hints and clues the author leaves for her readers.
I met Livesey a few years ago when she came to Madison, Wis. to read at the Wisconsin Book Festival. During that meeting, I proceeded to open my mouth and shove my foot so far down my own throat that it’s a wonder I ever recovered.
Mind you, I had developed a serious love affair with “Eva Moves the Furniture.” I also felt the novel had been under-recognized by reviewers and readers. I was telling everyone I knew about it, and most people hadn’t heard anything about it which bummed me out. I felt it was an original and marvelous little gem, and I had even given a couple copies away as gifts. So my conversation with Livesey went something like this:
Me: I enjoyed the novel immensely. It was one of my picks of the year.
Livesey, somewhat warmly: Thank you.
Me: I do wish it had gotten more attention from readers and reviewers because it’s really inventive and wonderful. (Or something a little gushing, which was absolutely not my style, and something a little inadvertently insulting like that, which was absolutely not my intent, but I loved this novel just that much and I’m just that much of a dolt.)
Livesey, coldly: Well, I think it’s done quite nicely, thank you.
Me, turning red: Well…right…but…you know…it’s just that… (I mutter an expletive or two under my breath as Livesey sails away like a frigate in Queen Elizabeth’s fleet.)
Whenever I saw Livesey the rest of the weekend, I would try to either slink away or blend into the wallpaper because there really isn’t any way to recover from that faux pas.
Sadly, if you haven’t already read this novel or if you don’t know and follow Livesey, you may not have heard of the book when it was first released. Now you have, though, and I’m charging you with reading it.
Tomorrow’s featured special is: “Rock Springs” by Richard Ford
Further reading:
Official Harper Collins Web page
Off the Page: Margot Livesey
Meet the Writers: Margot Livesey (Barnes & Noble)
January Magazine author interview
1Off the Page: Margot Livesey. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A19748-2004Nov29.html Accessed Feb. 28, 2010.