"Now as Delphine woke again to that rapid knocking, she knew that Fidelis was hiding his illness. Time was an army marching like the butchers onto the stage. Time was a singing club whose music was smoke and ash."
-from the novel
I didn't remember having read another novel by this author until I had almost finished this one. Our book club read The Painted Drum in 2012 and rated it 3.4. After a few chapters I checked Goodreads and found this novel had a solid 4 rating so, even though I wasn't captivated, I decided to give it a chance.
Fidelis Waldvogel returns to his hometown after WWI and marries Eva Kalb, who had been engaged to his friend who died in the war and is pregnant with his child. They shortly emigrate to the US and settle in Argus, North Dakota. Fidelis continues his father's trade as a butcher. He and Eva raise 4 sons.
Delphine Watzka and Cyprian Lazarre meet doing small theater and take a balancing act on the road. They end up in Argus where her father is the town drunk. Delphine and Eva become close friends and, in fact, Delphine ends up working in the Waldvogel butcher shop.
The plot is rather complicated and confusing with stories of murder, Delphine's friend Clarisse, the Waldvogel sons and a mysterious character called Step-and-a-Half. None of these subplots are very satisfying and, in fact, quite frustrating for this reader. I kept wondering about the singing club of the title, as it was rarely mentioned.
The Master Butchers Singing Club was definitely not a page-turner although it did have the redeeming quality of the author's lyrical style and powers of description. It was interesting to read the author's inspiration for the novel in her interview. I am rating the book a 3 and I feel I am being generous, at that. I may very well read another by this author but it will be a while.
