THE PRACTICAL NAVIGATOR
As those of you who know me from the YOUNGER NEXT YEAR books can see, I am off on a new tack … a third life, you could almost say … and I am plenty excited about it. THE PRACTICAL NAVIGATOR—my “debut novel”, at the tender age of 86—is to be published on March 15th and is available to preorder now. For some reason, preorders make Amazon’s algorithms giggle and they give the book a much better slot. Which is a huge deal. So, if it looks interesting, do jump in. (And preorder now.)
I worked on this book for ten years … worked hard … and I am absolutely nuts about it. I hope maybe you’ll like it too. I was 70 when we published Younger Next Year and it sold over 2 million copies in 23 languages. Can we do that again with a novel? Um, it would be a bit of a surprise but—with your help—who knows?
Advance readers have been wonderful: “Superb,” says Gay Talese, as we shyly note in the header. “I went through it like a brush fire,” says another. “Best work of fiction I’ve read in the past year,” says a third. And so on. There are more quotes under the Reviews tag. Also, on the book page of this website you can read a short sample. Will the book work for you? Hard to say … fiction is funny. But you’ll know in a couple of pages; it is very distinct. My publisher says I should mention here that you can also follow us on Instagram (@chriscrowleyauthor) and Facebook for updates and more bragging.
So, what’s the book about? A bunch of things. Structurally, it’s a legal mystery, with a murder, a twisting hunt for the killer and an electrifying trial. First and last, it is an “entertainment,” welcome stuff in these harrowing times.
It is also a “novel of manners”, as they used to say. Rather bad manners, I’m afraid, but interesting. It is set on the summer cruise in Maine of the Great Arcadia Yacht Club of New York, Boston and Mount Desert (“The Queen would have trouble getting into this club.”) The time is the late 1980s, and the background is Down-east Maine, my favorite place on earth.
Finally, the story draws on the Minotaur myth … the story of the monster (half-man, half-bull) who lurks in a Labyrinth, under the city of Knossos on Crete in the oldest myth in the Western Cannon. It’s not a retelling of the myth … more a descant over the modern story. The billionaire whose murder on the yacht club cruise is the peg seems to think he is the Minotaur. And at some level he may be right. Scary sucker in any case.
In the myth the Labyrinth is a killing field, under the city, where young people from “tribute cities” are sent to be slain and eaten by the monster. The Labyrinth here is a little more modern: a whirlpool of obsessive sexuality, spinning away under the city, under our lives. Some romp in its strong current, happy as otters. Others die. The Minotaur—himself a deeply sensitive and seductive (as well as murderous) figure—lures and presides.
Romance and sensuality wind all through the story. Importantly, there is an Ariadne figure. Do you remember her? …the half-sister of the beast? The one with Ariadne’s Thread, perhaps the most famous symbol in all literature? Don’t feel like a dope if you’ve forgotten. It will all come back. In the book, the narrator says of Alex, the Ariadne figure, “She was achingly beautiful. And so sensual that you instantly thought, That woman’s a little crazy. And wanted to know how.” It turns out that she’s also dazzlingly smart and oddly decent. I’m crazy about her, as is the narrator. But he is also in love with Cassie Sears, a Cassandra figure who—like the legendary Cassandra—sees the present and the future with eerie accuracy. In a story where no one knows what the hell is going on, she stands apart. She is a heroic figure, by the way, and I am in love with her, too. Everyone is. Almost.
Okay, there’s the story. Hope you decide to take a look and that you get drawn in. Not into the Labyrinth, which is scary … but the book, which is fun.
Best, Chris
p.s. Here’s the PREORDER link one last time!