Eva Moves the Furniture: A Novel | Margot Livesey | a thoughtful writer and a thought-provoking...

Eva Moves the Furniture: A Novel | Margot Livesey | wonderful novel

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Eva Moves the Furn...

	Eva Moves the Furniture: A Novel Margot Livesey Picador, 2002 - 240 pages average customer review:based on 55 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

On the morning of Eva McEwen's birth, six magpies congregate in the apple tree outside the window--a bad omen, according to Scottish legend. That night, Eva's mother dies, leaving her to be raised by her aunt and heartsick father in their small Scottish town. As a child, Eva is often visited by two companions--a woman and a girl--invisible to everyone else save her. As she grows, their intentions become increasingly unclear: Do they wish to protect or harm her? A magical novel about loneliness, love, and the profound connection between mother and daughter, Eva Moves the Furniture fuses the simplicity of a fairy tale with the complexity of adult passions.

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a thoughtful writer and a thought-provoking book.

The care Margot Livesey took in crafting this story comes through on every page; indeed, every sentence is a multi-faceted jewel. The whole story blew open for me in the last chapter when I realized that this book, which is in a way a love letter to the author's fictionalized mother, is also Eva's fictional love letter to her daughter. A lyrical, uncanny, deeply moving book, with the ability to bring the worldly and the otherworldly together in ways that illuminate one another--you will recommend this book to everyone you know.

wonderful novel

I thought this book was absolutely wonderful. Once I started reading it..I wasn't able to put it down!

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ghostly but grounded

Margot Livesey's fictional life of Evan MacEwan in WWII-era Scotland appealed to me with its mention of ghostly companions on the back cover. The furniture moving reference reminded me of my studies in Spiritualism, so I brought it home.

From the beginning, the writing style was very engrossing. Livesey's prose is sturdy and clean, and yet extremely evocative of mood. Her words are expressive, but never overstated or grandiloquent, keeping in the theme of a sparsely kept life in a rural countryside.

Eva's character develops slowly but surely, drawing you in to hear her stories. While some references are made to events out of sequence (the book is narrated by Eva, looking backward), they always lead back to the main thread of the story, weaving events and characters neatly together.

What strikes me as the most triumphant success of this book is the ghostly characters themselves. In other books that I have read involving paranormal characters/events, it becomes obvious that asking the reader to suspend disbelief in favor of the ghosts is asking a lot. It's very tricky to keep them "real" enough to make the story work. In Jennifer McMahon's Promise Not to Tell, I found the story engaging, but the ghost involvement jarring compared to the actual characters. Not so with Eva's companions; they glide into place, blending into the tapestry of Eva's life completely.

Since I write reviews without spoilers, I will only say that the ending made me cry. This is the mark of a good book; one that touches you so deeply, you can weep for it. I think perhaps my greatest criticism would be that it's a very short book. I'll be looking for more of Livesey's work in the future.

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Not the usual ghost story

I guess I expected something more paranormal from Eva Moves the Furniture - maybe that's why I have a hard time writing a review about it.

When the back of the book mentions that the main character sees two companions that are invisible to everyone else...and asks "Do they wish to protect or harm her?" - my mind turns to ghosts; I assume that the story about the ghosts and that Eva is simply a vehicle for the ghosts.

But instead, the story is about Eva, her life, her feelings about the mother she never knew, her indecision regarding what she should do with her life... a novel, in other words.

Once I was able to change my mindset, I started to enjoy the book. The prose is matter-of-fact, painting a sturdy picture of life in a small town in Scotland - beginning in 1920 when Eva was born. The presence of her mother, Barbara, always hovers over her as she is raised by her father and her aunt.

Eva is very sheltered by these two; late to start school and finding it difficult to make friends once she is there. And then the companions appear, a woman and a girl, and suddenly her life is forever changed.

I liked the story, and liked Eva...but I didn't really feel connected to her until she is grown and starts to think about marriage and a family. That may be me, projecting a bit, but it seems only at the point do her emotions seem strong enough to transfer to the reader.

"From that day in the churchyard, when the girl had kept her distance, I knew they would not come between us. As for the other things, the fluttering of the heart, the eagerness to touch and hold, I looked down at the ring and thought perhaps such feelings could be learned. Perhaps we could learn them together."

And later, when the narration turns from Eva describing her day to day life to a letter to her child, the book becomes very poignant. Eva, who didn't know her mother, is consumed by the life of her daughter in a very moving and beautiful way.

"Only the person upon whom I had turned my last thoughts was not present that day. You were with the first of many strangers. Anne had brought a bunch of violets on your behalf, and when the coffin was lowered into the grave, she stepped forward and placed the small purple flowers upon the shining wood. I have them still."

This final section of Eva Moves the Furniture is where the book truly glows and becomes a ghost story in the emotional sense of the word - a mixture of past, present and future - where lives touch but do not intersect - where love lives on long after the body lets go.

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FLATLINER -- drably pedestrian

I don't know why all the 5 star reviews.
I agree with reviewer Tim Lieder. The potential was there but......
This is Eva's life story. You know how some kids, they say, have imaginary friends?
Well, Eva's got two (and more depending on the situation) and they are very real ghosts that direct and guide her thu life whether she likes it or not. Their presence was good and bad so there didn't seem to be any rhyme nor reason to their being there. I mean, they could of made her life glorious! Made things happen! Opened doors. Or they could of made life real tough. But they didn't, so... nothing happened. The potential was there but it was not taken.

Livesey just didn't give it life. Flatline best describes this story. It lacked highlights, was monotone and lacked emotion and mystery. Too subtle. Pale. The only emotions came at the very end, and were extremely sad.

I liked Livesey's "The Criminals" so when I saw all the 5 stars for "Eva Moves the Furniture" I said, Alright!

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