Zoje Stage’s second novel Wonderland is set to be released in June 2020. Her debut novel, Baby Teeth, came out in 2018 and fans of hers have been patiently waiting to see what she was going to conjure up next. Stage has taken the dark, twisted, and unexpected and turned it into something new and incredibly unique. Wonderland follows the Bennett family as they embark on a new adventure as a family; to live in the middle of nowhere instead of the city they have known their whole lives. Orla, Shaw, Eleanor Queen, and Tycho soon learn about the powers that are hidden in the forest surrounding their new home.
There are five main characters in Stage’s novel and it is written in third-person but follows Orla, mother and retired ballerina, as she and her family navigate this sinister new world. Shaw, father and jack-of-all-trades, has found his new calling to be a painter and has found inspiration in the forest to create his work. Shaw slowly becomes consumed by the trees and they became the focal point to all of his art. Eleanor Queen is the timid, introverted, and anxious daughter of Orla and Shaw. She is incredibly perceptive and truly takes in the entire world around her. As the story progresses, Eleanor Queen truly lives up to her name. Tycho is the curious, easygoing, and exuberant son of Orla and Shaw. Tycho enjoys learning about the world around him and is a huge part of Orla and Shaw’s life. Stage has created unique characters with equally unique names; they are all very likeable and easy to relate to. The fifth main character in Stage’s novel is the forest. The sinister forest wants one thing from the Bennett family; to listen.
Stage uses a few different themes throughout Wonderland that help give this novel its unique feel. Stage uses the mother-daughter relationship, mental health, and even elements of climate change to help tell the story of a foreboding forest and what it wants from the Bennett family. The most unique aspect of Wonderland is that Stage uses the forest as a character and while it may be a supernatural being controlling the forest, it’s a wonderfully done metaphor for climate change and what could happen if we do not listen to nature that surrounds us. Whether or not Stage intended climate change to be a part of her story, Wonderland reminds the reader to listen to what’s around us. If the reader has read Baby Teeth, they will notice some similarities in themes. As the story progresses the reader also gets to see Stage bring in elements of a coming-of-age story to help shape the character of Eleanor Queen as she transforms from timid girl to radiantly confident pre-teen.
While this has been classified as part of the horror genre, some readers may find that it doesn’t belong there. There are many aspects of Wonderland that can be seen as terrifying; however they do not keep the reader up at night needing to sleep with a light on. The novel does play with the readers mind in the way psychological thrillers do, but the scare factor in this novel is minimal. I wanted to be scared, to have to put the novel down and take a minute before I kept reading, but I found that things were not as scary as they are portrayed through other reviews. Despite the scare factor being minimal, Stage’s prose is breathtakingly beautiful and she truly knows how to create a twisted and dark world that plays tricks on your mind. Stage is a force to be reckoned with and it is easy to see that she has a lot to say. Whatever Stage does next is sure to be absolutely distinctive and exquisitely well done.
Wonderland is available from Amazon, Book Depository, and other good book retailers as of June 16th 2020.
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Synopsis | Goodreads
If Shirley Jackson wrote The Shining, it might look like this novel from the acclaimed author of Baby Teeth: A mother must become a protector when unnatural forces threaten her family’s new and improved life in a rural farmhouse.
The Bennett family – artist parents and two precocious children – leave their familiar urban surroundings for a new home in far upstate New York. They’re an hour from the nearest city, a mile from the nearest house, and everyone has their own room for the very first time. Shaw, the father, even gets his own painting studio, now that he and his wife Orla, a retired dancer, have agreed that it’s his turn to pursue his passion.
But none of the Bennetts expect what lies waiting in the lovely woods, where secrets run dark and deep. Orla must finally find a way to communicate with – not just resist – this unknown entity that is coming to her family, calling to them from the land, in the earth, beneath the trees … and in their minds.
