He tries to stop her from killing but we gradually see that there is a part of him drawn to the danger. Most of these revelations come to her when she reunites with her lover Dev Patil. Her hands even begin turning against her, behaving sporadically outside of her control. Through asides told by the “hands”, we see the times she didn’t use them when it mattered when fellow Black people were being mistreated, killed and manipulated. What we see – through all parts – is her coming to terms with being used a weapon for her crew. Through this work, she wants to use her hands to kill only those deserving of it. Phyllis’ moral dilemma is her need to use her hands for justice. Each character embodies this in varying degrees in their respective parts.įor Phyllis, being mixed-race and white-passing, she uses this ambiguity to find her place among lethal mobsters. I can assume it can be agreed upon that the true evil of this book is the systemic racism that plagues people of colour. I should preface my discussion on the plot – or why many would argue the lack thereof – with the notion that this book is perfect for those wanting a heavily character-driven narrative laced with mysticism. The book is split into three parts, Phyllis (in first-person), Dev (in first-person), and Tamara (in third-person). It makes her characters feel real and almost lovable in the ways you want to see them have some semblance of normalcy. A sort of seductive, intimate conversation. Alaya Dawn Johnson has crafted a style that I can easily see being confusing or disorienting to others but was the perfect balance of storytelling.
It’s been a while since I’ve read such lyrical writing, especially in fantasy.
It is a wonderfully rich blend of a vividly dangerous world, laced with magic in a vibrant presentation of historical reality. Trouble the Saints is an ambitious novel. While trying hard to leave this life behind, we learn more about the race and power dynamics of the 1930s with a magical – somewhat mystical – throughline that ties together the struggle to survive and the need for justice. Set in New York, at the dawn of WWII, Trouble the Saints is a story that starts with a notorious assassin whose ‘hands’ gift her deadly precision with knives. Amid the whir of city life, a young woman from Harlem is drawn into the glittering underworld of Manhattan, where she’s hired to use her knives…
The dangerous magic of The Night Circus meets the powerful historical exploration of The Underground Railroad in Alaya Dawn Johnson's timely and unsettling novel, set against the darkly glamorous backdrop of New York City, where an assassin falls in love and tries to change her fate at the dawn of World War II.
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