What Is Magical Realism?
Just as important, why do I like it?
Magical realism, according to Google, “is a literary and artistic style that depicts the real world as having an undercurrent of magic or fantasy.” The story is “set in a realistic environment, but includes supernatural or dreamlike elements that are presented as ordinary occurrences.”
Popular examples include “One Hundred Years of Solitude” by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, “Beloved” by Toni Morrison, “The Time Traveler’s Wife”, by Audrey Niffenegger, and “Chocolat” by Joanne Harris (which was later made into a movie by the same name).
Although I haven’t read all of those examples, the concept of living our ordinary lives with supernatural occurrences all around us intrigues me and has influenced my novels, “The Inheritance” and “The Sacred Woods“. I gave Ivory, the main character insight into the spiritual world, which she feels as nudges somewhere around the middle of her physical body. At times, she can also communicate through the thin veil that separates this world from the next.
My fascination with what lies beyond our physical existence is why the Landow Creek series can be found in the Magical Realism section of bookstores.
What books do you like that include magic or a supernatural element?