Another brilliantly crafted story that puts me in mind to see Moore as a filmmaker; you know, the person who takes an idea or disparate ideas and makes magic with them.  It's no spoiler to quote the jacket that says "Klimt, Freud and Jung meet The Bride of Frankenstein." And it was just as wild a ride as that quote promised.  If you aren't familiar with the art of Klimt, please take a moment to look at some of it.  He was quite famous and wealthy within his lifetime.

The action takes place in Vienna in 1911 when Klimt spies the floating corpse of a beautiful young woman in the canal.  Unable to resist the impulse, he hastily sketches her before calling the police.  Imagine his shock when the corpse wakes.  With the immediate need to report to the police rendered moot, he decides a better option is take her with him back to his studio; ostensibly to give her comfort but really to have more time to draw her.

This begins a family-type relationship as his model Wally takes it upon herself to protect the young woman while she tries to get her memory back.  There was something else that happened at the canal that they didn't know of right away - the decapitated body of a policeman was found and the police are rather anxious about finding the rumored dead woman.  In addition, the drowned woman is being stalked by one or more nefarious types, adding to the mystery.

Along the way to recovery, the young woman, christened Judith by Klimt, has a rather fantastical recollection of how many times she's died (four) and under what circumstances.  So fantastical that Klimt, being a considerate soul, tries to get her help from Freud.  Freud ends up passing her to Jung.  Both men interpret her recollections within their own developing theories of psychoanalysis; unable to credit her memories as actual fact.

This was wildly hilarious although the biggest laugh I had was something in the Afterword.  If the gentle reader isn't versed in the culture of the time and place, some events and references might seem innocuous.  The characters, some benign and some apparently evil, are bigger than life.  And life at that time, while swell for men, was, of course, less swell for women.  Moore admits that he had no desire to take the story out of that historical context so his women are not superwomen behaving out of character; instead, he attributes characteristics to Wally that do not seem out of place.  In fact, most women probably relied on their good sense, humor, love, courage and resourcefulness to survive those times. Judith, on the other hand, is not a normal woman so her dialogue and actions have to be outside the norms; she's died four times already and has a relationship with gods, one of which is the croissant-eating demon dog, Geoff.  Plus, she's The Bride of Frankenstein; so there's that.

I have loved every single thing that Moore has published and this one is no different.  His stories are my catnip.  I have a deep love of the absurd and Moore has always satisfied that for me.  Dip into any of his titles, most are standalones, and see for yourself. And don't pass on his Afterword; he gives a lot of explanation that was terribly interesting.and funny.  But don't read it before the story, too many spoilers.  ~~  Catherine Book

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