The First Book of Calamity Leek is disorienting at the start, as Calamity Leek records her memories of "the night Truly did it," with references to "the Pontefracts," the "High Hut," the "Garden" and "our Wall of Safekeeping" coming fast and furious in the first few pages alone. And Calamity, our strange and unknowable narrator, provides no explanation for them. She assumes that the world of the Garden--where she and her 15 sisters live with Aunty and the Mother, in fear of the Sun--is a world known to and understood by everyone. Anything that is not understood, after all, can simply be looked up in the Appendix--a binder full of definitions provided by Aunty to explain everything, including the Creation, Demonmales, the Outside, Unsavory Urges--or one of several volumes of Reader's Digest.
Though Calamity's narrative offers little to no explanation of the strange and complex world she inhabits, Paula Lichtarowicz has created a character whose strong and compelling voice will leave readers no choice but to forge ahead in their confusion. That confusion will be short-lived, though, as carefully paced and layered revelations bring Calamity's reality into ever-sharper focus. In the process, The First Book of Calamity Leek evolves from a strange fictional memoir to a disturbing story of creation myths and walled-up lives and of what happens when someone questions everything she's been taught as gospel. But Lichtarowicz peppers her debut novel with references to show tunes and movie stars and beauty treatments, keeping her seemingly fantastical novel firmly anchored in a familiar world. --Kerry McHugh, blogger at Entomology of a Bookworm