Review: The Martian Girl by Andrew Martin

Jean is on a mission to Mars. OK, not really – she’s intrigued by Kate French, known as The Martian Girl, a mesmerist from the 1800s with incredible talent and shrouded in mystery. Initially planning to portray Kate’s story as a one-woman play, but delving into her past and uncovering the complexities of fame as a mind-reader in the previous century, decides that The Martian Girl’s story should be a novel.

As if reliving someone else’s past isn’t consuming enough, Jean is also entangled in an illicit affair with Mr. Coates, a lawman with a penchant for kink and a rather aggressive streak. In addition to his habit of drinking too much wine and propositioning women, Coates has a somewhat dark past which led to his expulsion from the Chambers. While he deals with unemployment and guilt, his paranoia skyrockets. As Jean’s project becomes more consuming, he decides that The Martian Girl’s story is a little too close to home, and actually serves as Jean’s admission that she knows what he’s been up to. Coates can’t have that.

This book is Inception-level good; a story within a story. Within it, two drastically different stories become intertwined into a shockingly similar outcome. What is most remarkable is not the double story feature, but the manner in which Martins has delivered such a complex, intricate plot with such precision and with so much sparkle. The Martian Girl is a polished gem of a story. Martin’s handling of two different voices from two different eras is superb and inspiring. In addition, the possibility of the supernatural in Kate’s story gives a refreshing appeal, where the line between the two narratives, and similarly between reality and fiction, is blurred and brilliant.

Unpredictable and great fun, this is a book that promises to banish boredom and reel in the reader from the first page. It also doesn’t hurt that the book itself is beautiful, and a pleasure to look at. A win, all round.

The Martian Girl by Andrew Martin is published by Corsair Books, an imprint of Little Brown (an Hachette Books company) and is available in South Africa from Jonathan Ball Publishers.