Necklace of Kisses

Where were the kisses? Weetzie Bat wondered. And so begins a magical journey of discovery. As she turns forty and the relationship with her secret-agent lover-man Max falls apart, Weetzie packs up her lime green and bright orange bikini, orange suede sneakers, and Pucci tunic, jumps in her '65 mint green Thunderbird, and leaves.

Weetzie finds herself at the enchanted pink hotel in sparkling Los Angeles, where she once shied away from a kiss that may have led her to the love of her life. Now she returns, perhaps in search of her lost passion, and meets an otherworldy cast of characters, among them a blue-skinned receptionist, an invisible cleaning lady, a seductive fawn, and a sushi-eating mermaid who gives her a kiss that sets the wheel of self-discovery in motion.

Block invests every scene with equal shots of magic and realism, rendering her heroine and supporting players in vivid, poetic detail. In Necklace of Kisses the fans that have grown up with Weetzie Bat will be able to meet her in adulthood and find that life is still no less trying and no less full of wonder.

"Readers who remember Weetzie Bat and My Secret Agent Lover Man's first kiss (a 'kiss about apple pie à la mode with the vanilla creaminess melting in the pie heat') from their YA incarnation may be crushed to learn that they've shared no kisses since September 11, 2001. My Secret Agent Lover Man, though Weetzie's long-time lover, 'was now just Max'; Weetzie, whom readers first met in 1989's Weetzie Bat, is now 40. As the novel opens, Weetzie packs a small bag and checks herself into a pink hotel in L.A., 'seeking the kiss she had lost.' There Weetzie embarks on a quest of sorts. She meets Shelley, whose kiss reveals that she is a mermaid and is the first of the title's necklace of kisses. Each kiss injects a bit more enchantment into Weetzie's life. Block carefully construes the kisses as complete in and of themselves. Weetzie never betrays Max; this is a novel of healing. Weetzie's many fans will most appreciate this reunion with the heroine and her Secret Agent Lover Man, Dirk and Duck and many more. But those just meeting Block's whimsical entourage and sparkling prose will also appreciate the book's message: that magic can be found in stolen moments and, in Dirk's words, though 'love is a dangerous angel,' it's well worth the risk." Publishers Weekly (Starred Review) (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)

"Necklace of Kisses is the most lustrous gem in the necklace of Weetzie Bat stories. I read it on the plane and had to hide my tears from the woman seated next to me." John Cameron Mitchell

"[T]he celebration of the silly and the magical in a scary, sad world will appeal to all those once-teen fans who remember Weetzie and, just like her, now need a rewrite." Booklist

"With vivid imagery, Block...has conjured another enchanting and lyrically surreal journey of love and self-discovery. Recommended..." Library Journal

"Lovely language and ambitious ideas aside, the novel's emotional content is thin, and entirely too much relies on some very pretty window dressing." Kirkus Reviews

Francesca Lia Block is the author of the Los Angeles Times bestsellers Guarding the Moon, The Rose and the Beast, Violet & Claire, and Dangerous Angels: The Weetzie Bat Books, as well as I Was a Teenage Fairy, Girl Goddess #9, The Hanged Man, Echo, and Nymph. Her work has been translated into seven languages. She lives in Los Angeles.