Synopses & Reviews
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.
Margot Livesey is the award-winning author of the story collection Learning by Heart and the novels Homework, Criminals, and The Missing World. Born in Scotland, she currently lives in the Boston area, where she is writer-in-residence at Emerson College.
A New York Times Notable Book of the Year
Atlantic Monthly Best Book of the Year
A Pen/Winship Finalist
On the morning of Eva McEwen's birth, six magpies congregate in the apple tree outside the windowa bad omen, according to legend. That night Eva's mother dies, leaving her to be raised by her aunt and widowed father in the small town of Troon, Scotland.
Eva's peaceful childhood is disrupted the day a woman and a girl mysteriously appear in her garden. Over the years, the two make frequent visits; invisible to everyone else at first they seem benevolent, helping to tidy her room and collect the hen's eggs. But as Eva grows older, her visitor's intentions become increasingly unclear: Do they wish to protect or harm her? Is their meddling in her best interests or prompted by darker motivations?
In the shadow of World War II, Eva studies nursing in Glasgow, tending to the injured soldiers. But when she falls in love with a young plastic surgeon, her companions seem to have a very different idea as to her fate, and once again she finds herself unable to resist their pull.
Margot Livesey has been praised for her intelligent, suspenseful plotting, her astringent moral sensibility, her profound insight into character, and her spare, luminous prose. With Eva Moves the Furniture, Livesey has written her most compelling work yet: a magical novel about loneliness, love, and the profound connection between mother and daughter, one that fuses the simplicity of a fairy tale with the complexity of adult passions.
"Not since Marilynne Robinson's Housekeeping has there been such a beautiful novel about the bond between mother and daughter. Radiant, perfectly poised, Eva Moves the Furniture casts a powerful spell."Andrea Barrett
"Reader beware. If you give Eva McEwen just a little spave in your won imagination, she will start moving the furniture."The New York Times Book Review
"Stunning . . . She limits her tale with beautiful evocations of the loneliness of childhood, the shimmery quality of ghostly spirits, and the fear and excitement of wartime."San Francisco Chronicle Book Review
What is extraordinary about this novel is the fretwork of feeling among its unorthodox cast of characters . . . Livesey has written a ghost story, of sorts . . . and, if it moves you, the end will send you back to the beginning."The New Yorker
"Margot Livesey is a writer at the pinnacle of her craft. Eva Moves the Furniture is such a complete, sturdy yet graceful novel that it is difficult for a critic to wedge herself in between the writer and reader."Los Angeles Times Books Review
"A quirky and enchanting novel about the thin curtain that seperates our world from the next."Alice Hoffman
"Not since Marilynne Robinson's Housekeeping has there been such a beautiful novel about the bond between mother and daughter. Radiant, perfectly poised, Eva Moves the Furniture casts a powerful spell."Andrea Barrett
"In this fetching, ultimately moving novel, magic and danger are so inextricably bound that the palpable world seems slightly less trustworthy than the one you cannot see."The Boston Globe
"Livesey is a writer of tremendous grace and precision . . . [Her] wonderful new novel will haunt you in a sweet way, and leave you with a spark of hope for us all."Chicago Tribune
"Livesey writes with such restraint that the shock lies in events themselves, not her language. She uses metaphors beautiful in their precision . . . Simultaneously chilling and compassionate."The Washington Post Book World
"Perfectly structured . . . In prose direct and precise she limns Eva's story with steady p0authority."The Atlantic Monthly
"Conjured with economical and vivid detail . . . In fashioning a novel that is both moving and mysterious, she has also put an original spin on the ghost story."The Austin Chronicle
"Eva Moves the Furniture is a finely crafted, exquisitely wrought novel."Boston Herald
"Livesey's novel elegantly traverses loneliness, love, and the bond between mother and daughter."Portland Oregonian
Review
"[T]he immensely talented Livesey continues to juxtapose strange events with mundane daily activities....The wonder is that she can draw readers into her world so gently that the barriers between reality and the fantastic quickly fall....Her restraint and delicacy, and the reader's identification with the appealing Eva, result in a haunting drama." Publishers Weekly
Review
"Eva still lives in a world where a midwife can look out the window, count six magpies in a tree and recognize this as an omen of death, a world that still retains some of the purity of a ballad. It's also a world that has utterly vanished; the brief access to it that Livesey offers us is comforting, if ever so slightly bittersweet. That makes Eva Moves the Furniture a bit like a ghost itself, certainly a companion and without question very welcome indeed." Laura Miller, Salon (read the entire Salon review)
Review
"A haunting and haunted fourth novel from Livesey....This isn't a ghost story, but rather a searching examination of how we deal with our ghosts. Livesey's scrupulous prose, lyrical yet classically exact, is the perfect vehicle to convey her multilayered insights. Pitiless, deeply moving, and terrifying: another flawless work from an uncompromising artist." Kirkus Reviews
Review
"In a departure from her psychological tales full of menacing undercurrents, Livesey's latest outing is a deceptively simple coming-of-age story set in small-town Scotland between the wars....While it may take some Livesey fans by surprise, this lovely, bittersweet novel should find a warm place in their hearts." Library Journal
Review
"Eva's undaunted tolerance of these apparitions and their activities is tinged with a subtle humor, but with the added melancholic flavor of a lonely girl who cannot be fearful of entities whose realm is also home to her departed mother. An enjoyable read that explores the esoteric essence of life, death, and undying love." Elsa Gaztambide, Booklist
Review
"Livesey writes with such restraint that the shock lies in events themselves, not her language. She uses metaphors beautiful in their precision....Simultaneously chilling and compassionate." The Washington Post Book World
Review
"This is a novel that enters the reader's life in much the same way that the companions come to Eva. It looks harmless enough, like a child's fantasy, inhabiting a fairy tale in which powerful, other-worldly forces are at work, but reader beware. If you give Eva McEwen just a little space in your own imagination, she will start moving the furniture." The New York Times Book Review
Review
"Perfectly structured....In prose direct and precise she limns Eva's story with steady authority." The Atlantic Monthly
Review
"Livesey is a writer of tremendous grace and precision....[Her] wonderful new novel will haunt you in a sweet way, and leave you with a spark of hope for us all." Chicago Tribune
Review
"What is extraordinary about this novel is the fretwork of feeling among its unorthodox cast of characters....Livesey has written a ghost story, of sorts...and, if it moves you, the end will send you back to the beginning." The New Yorker
Review
"Stunning....She limns her tale with beautiful evocations of the loneliness of childhood, the shimmery quality of ghostly spirits and the fear and excitement of wartime." San Francisco Chronicle Book Review
Review
"In this fetching, ultimately moving novel, magic and danger are so inextricably bound that the palpable world seems slightly less trustworthy than the one you cannot see." The Boston Globe
Review
"Margot Livesey is a writer at the pinnacle of her craft. Eva Moves the Furniture is such a complete, sturdy yet graceful novel that it is difficult for a critic to wedge herself in between the writer and the reader." Los Angeles Times Book Review
Review
"A quirky and enchanting novel about the thin curtain that separates our world from the next." Alice Hoffman
Review
"Not since Marilynne Robinsons Housekeeping has there been such a beautiful novel about the unbreakable bond between mother and daughter. Radiant, perfectly poised, Eva Moves the Furniture casts a powerful spell." Andrea Barrett
Synopsis
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.
About the Author
Margot Livesey is the award-winning author of a story collection,
Learning by Heart, and the novels
Homework, Criminals, and
The Missing World. Born in Scotland, she currently lives in the Boston area, where she is writer-in-residence at Emerson College.