The Days of Anna Madrigal, by Armistead Maupin June 3rd 2015

The Days of Anna Madrigal, by Armistead Maupin June 3rd 2015

Finally after 35 years I have completed the nine book series in "The Tales of the City" series by the iconic writer Armistead Maupin.

We meet our familiar friends and are re-acquainted with some long lost friends.  Along the way we learn about some ghosts of the past and are introduced to some ethereal imagery.

It is hard to say good-bye to these wonderful characters.

There are about four consecutive stories happening with the main thread being Anna Madrigal's story.  Without Anna as the conduit, there would not be the nine book series.  One cannot imagine the series of books without Anna.

Some of the chapters are in the present day and others revert to Anna's past history at the Blue Moon brothel.  The ghosts haunt her memory with both joy and sadness.   You can feel, from the early chapters,  that Anna needs to reconcile herself to these memories considering she is 92 years of age.

The chapters rotate between the  stories of Michael and Ben, Brian and his new wife Wren, Shawna and of course Anna's story.  It is a page turner, at times, particularly with the updates and wanting to know what happens to Anna.

There is some beautiful imagery of a butterfly towards the end of the book.  It does not spoil the story but reminds me of the graceful costumes worn by Las Vegas showgirls that many drag queens try to emulate.  This image of the butterfly is used in many designs of women's gorgeous evening wear, and it also reminds me of the flowing robes worn by Anna.  This book with flowing images wafted over me as if the flowing sheer fabric of a butterfly wing.  There is more to this imagery and I will not give it away.

Some hidden secrets are revealed that dispel our earlier understanding of some issues.  They may have been convenient when first written but make more sense now.  It is fiction after all.  I am sure many of the characters are based on aspects of many people.  (Which character do you identify with?  Maybe a bit of each!)

Reading the final book inspires me to re-read the entire series.  There are many popular contemporary cultural references and links back to previous books.

Some of the chapters took about a page to make sense as I was wondering where they were located and if the timing was contemporary or in the past.  Sometimes I had to re-read sections to create the link to time, characters and location.   I guess this is, in part, due to the time gap since reading the last book.  Though, I do think Armistead could have made it a little easier on the reader to create these time, character or location segues earlier in some chapters.

The reunion of characters is interesting the way that Armistead reunites them. Whether the reunions are physical, emotional or spiritual is beautiful without being patronising; as the characters are cemented in our hearts.

Thank you Armistead Maupin for a sensational story.  I am so glad to have met you on a plane in 1985 and did not realise who you were until about a year later.  I will hold that memory close as I hold these characters with same fondness.