This book can get into the list of “weirdest books I’ve read in 2014” (sharing the spot with James Joyce’s Ulysses and Tristram Shandy). The main character is a young woman who was born from an egg and sprouted wings on her back. So, yes, it is a very weird book.

It begins with an American journalist, Jack, interviewing Fevvers, the winged woman. He seems to think that she is a fake and doubts her story all the time. But he’s also fascinated by her. After all, she is the epitome of the exotic (she has WINGS) and she is also more real than anything he’s seen in his life. I mean this in the sense that she is very earthy, in a way. Not the typical idea of ethereal woman you usually get to see.

She tells him about her earlier years, when she was left on the door of a brothel and the prostitutes adopted her. After the madam of the brothel dies, she and her putative godmother, Lizzie, leave the house and move with Lizzie’s family. Out of desire to help the family, Fevvers decides to begin working in what can only be described as mixture between a brothel and a freak show. When the madam of that place sells her to a creepy man who intends to sacrifice her, Fevvers runs and gets back to Lizzie. In the end, she enters a circus, which makes her famous.
Jack, who is clearly smitten by this amazing and unreal woman, decides to follow her around Europe. They encounter adventures is Tsarist Russia, and so on.

The book is really cool over all, but what really sells it is Fevvers herself. She’s one of those amazing female character who is not only strong enough to save herself, but she also saves others.

Namely, Jack Walser.

She is kind, compassionate and daring, all of which make for a really cool combination in her. She’s obviously the hero of the story, not merely a love interest for Jack. I really think we need more characters like her.

In the end, she gets together with Jack, but it is made clear that it’s not your average happy ending. They are both in power in the relationship and are seen as equals.

Angela Carter is a good narrator; she manages to keep the attention of the reader for the entire book. And that’s remarkable considering that great parts of the book are basically description, with very little dialogue in them. But she writes vividly and it’s very easy to enjoy these descriptions. I especially enjoyed the ones in the Siberian section (it may be that I’m not a hot-weathered person, and it’s summer where I live and I love snow and cold weather), describing the beautiful snow-covered trees.

To whom would I recommend this book? To anyone who enjoys strong, well-written and interesting female characters, historical fiction and a bit of magical realism. If you check these three items, please, feel free to get this book as soon as you can.