"House of Transformation" by Astrea Taylor (Create Space, 409 pages, $14.95)
The history of modern music is littered with the tragic tales of performers who died young after abusing alcohol and/or drugs. Some were at the height of fame when they died. Others became known only after they were gone, their music discovered by a wider audience following their untimely demises.
The names are iconic. Here’s a quick dozen names that come to mind: Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Amy Winehouse, Hank Williams, Bon Scott, Elvis Presley, Nick Drake, Gram Parsons, Whitney Houston, Tommy Bolin, Michael Jackson and Brian Jones. Nobody could save them.
Astrea Taylor’s new novel “House of Transformation” is the story of a recording artist named Ananda Dawn. Ananda has come out of nowhere to become one of the biggest recording stars around. Her first album brought her instant fame. After that rapid ascent her career has fallen into turmoil because she is a drug addict.
The story is being narrated by Margaret (Mag) Woods, a psychotherapist who knew Ananda before she became famous. Ananda’s origins are shrouded in mystery. When Mag met her Ananda claimed that she was a fashion model. The two women began living together in St. Paul, Minnesota. Ananda is beautiful and charismatic and Mag feels a powerful connection to her.
The two women tried to make a living as artists. They made collages from photographs clipped from magazines. Mag narrates the story from two different perspectives which shift back and forth. The first viewpoint is the one of their younger selves as starving artists. The second viewpoint takes place seven years later as Ananda, now a famous singer, suddenly resurfaces in Mag’s life.
The author, a resident of Dayton, does a superb job of revealing how the friendship between these two women develops, decays, then is slowly restored. When Ananda appears on Mag’s doorstep after years of ignoring Mag it is because she has nowhere else to turn.
The book opens as the out of control celebrity Ananda is about to crash her car into the Eiffel Tower in Paris. The resulting media frenzy forces Ananda to flee and go into hiding. She heads to St. Paul where Mag now has a job counseling troubled young women.
Ananda shows up at Mag’s place tailed by hordes of reporters and photographers. Mag is stunned to see her old friend. She is also troubled. Mag has been trying to process her feelings of rejection by Ananda. She has published a book exposing Ananda as a person who uses people then discards them. When Ananda seeks refuge with Mag she doesn’t realize yet what Mag has written about her.
Mag knows better, too. Later she reflects “I wasn’t sure what I’d expected when Ananda hijacked my life, but I didn’t expect to feel this abandoned. In hindsight, I should’ve seen it coming. She was selfish, rude, and deeply disturbed.” Will Mag be able to rescue Ananda from herself?
“The House of Transformation” of the title is the house where these two women once lived. I’ll leave it to readers to discover the intrigues that took place there. Suffice it to say that there are some paranormal aspects to this structure. Astrea Taylor’s literary debut is an auspicious one.
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