The Swifts are back in the second volume of a delightful series about a large and eccentric family, whose names are (mostly) words chosen from the sacred Family Dictionary. This time, protagonist Shenanigan Swift is off to Paris, chasing a stolen painting and connecting with the Martinets, the French branch of the Swift family tree—although the two sides have long been estranged. She’s joined by sister Phenomena, best friend and cousin Erf (who is nonbinary), and Uncle Maelstrom (who is queer), and meets a set of French cousins, including Pomme, Soufflé, Mercredi, Contraire, and Souris. Shenanigan must apply her smarts and her willingness to break the rules to discover the secret behind the eccentric group of art thieves known as Ouvolpo—but the stakes rise when an art heist turns into a murder mystery.
As with the first book, author Beth Lincoln’s love of language makes the book shine, and here, her wordplay gets to romp freely across two languages. (No previous knowledge of French is needed; she either uses words easily understood from their English cognates or explains them deftly as part of the story.)
The queerness here simply is; same-sex relationships and other nonbinary characters are introduced with no fanfare. At the same time, there are moments that acknowledge characters’ queerness. For example, the book notes in passing that Erf’s gran, Aunt Inheritance, “was now using their [Erf’s] proper name, the one Erf had picked for themself rather than the one assigned by the Dictionary.” (The first volume explores that in more detail.) And when cousin Mercredi tries to explain gendered words and pronouns in French, Erf reasonably asks, “What about people who aren’t either male or female, though? I’m non-binary, but there’s nothing in my phrase book about it.” Mercredi explains, “Your phrase book is probably out of date … for neutral pronouns, ‘iel‘ is popular. Cousin Jardin uses it.” These are small moments of the whole, but add inclusion and authenticity without making queerness a focus of the plot.
Another major character is a transgender woman, although readers would only know that if they’ve read the first book; her trans identity simply isn’t relevant here (and she plays a much smaller role in this volume anyway).
Themes of entitlement, colonialism, and marginalization emerge as the story unfolds, but never become preachy; Lincoln’s sharp wit makes her points incisively, while an occasional lyricism adds depth. Nestled among the twisty plot, quirky characters, and linguistic antics, too, are observations about what it means to be a family and how one’s view of family members can change as one grows. Lincoln weaves this in while keeping the murder mystery/heist adventure at the fore; it’s a masterful balance, making this volume, like the first, highly recommended. And while the ending is satisfying, there’s a clear setup for yet another volume to come. Magnifique!
Shenanigan, her sisters, and Erf are White; Maelstrom is Black, and Cousin Souris has brown skin and the last name Bakir-Martinet, hinting at part-Turkish ancestry.
