A review by nikchick
The Enchantment Of Lily Dahl by Siri Hustvedt

3.0

I picked up this novel because I heard that Hustvedt had based the town she calls Webster on Northfield, MN. Indeed, the details of Division Street, the Ideal cafe, the Stuart hotel, the community theater at the Arts Guild, the names and personality-types are all plucked straight from the reality of my experience in Northfield. That said, I found the story itself to be the weakest part of the novel. I anticipated much of the plot and the "twists" were no surprise. it wasn't until the end of the book that the characters seemed approachably human and by then there wasn't enough story left to engage with them. I've given it three stars because I enjoyed the way the backdrop of Northfield was worked into the book but in all other ways it left me feeling it was just "ok."