Cafe Arcane

Review

Rating: 6

Hardly a redeemable or sympathetic character in the lot, with the occasional exception of Lockwood (more an observer than a participant) and Nelly, the primary narrator. Although the novel is held as a classic of English literature, its endless series of tragedies, suffering and downright evil concludes somewhat anti-climatically in my opinion. Its real strength seems to be its use and popularization in English literature of flashbacks, layered storytelling and its success in capturing the essence of physical setting.