Book Review: Crystal King combines food, myths and surrealism with ‘In the Garden of Monsters’

Salvador Dali hires a young artist with a striking similarity to the goddess Proserpina to model for him in the Sacro Bosco, a mystical garden almost as surreal as Dali himself. But the beautiful Julia Lombardi quickly finds there’s more tying her to the gods of Greek and Roman myths than just her looks.

“In the Garden of Monsters” is a Gothic reimagining of the Persephone myth set in Italy shortly after WWII and written delectably by Crystal King, who flexes her historical research and mouthwatering food writing skills.

And when I say mouthwatering, I mean it. King takes full advantage of the pomegranate’s role in the story to craft amazing meals, inspired in part by Dali himself.

The novel is a confluence — of art and surrealism, mythology and modernity, ghosts and monsters, sex and romance, history and mystery — that’s as surprising and satisfying as the astounding flavor combinations in the dishes described within.

As soon as Julia arrives at the castle near the Sacro Bosco along with Dali; his wife, Gala; a young Italian man to take photographs; and a strapping American to tote around the painting supplies, otherworldly things start happening. And the whole place is somewhat disquieting, what with the unnaturally blank servants and an uncanny glow that sometimes emanates from the garden below.

But their host, the exceedingly handsome Ignazio, is unmistakably familiar to Julia. His hot touch and lingering odor of smoke and cinnamon are equally comforting and unnerving.

Despite her unexplained amnesia — Julia can’t remember anything before about two years ago — it only takes a couple of days for Julia to start piecing together her predicament. It quickly becomes a cat-and-mouse game of trapping the model into eating the pomegranate seeds before she can uncover her past and the estate’s haunting secrets.

The story is accessible even if you aren’t familiar with the mythology and opens lots of doors to explore. King provides further background at the end of the book, along with a host of resources — not least of which are three recipes from the novel and a promise that more can be found in a companion cookbook on her website, like with her previous two novels.

Told with super-smooth narration, “In the Garden of Monsters” is sexy, scary and scrumptious — a magical, beautiful place you don’t want to leave with an ending even more surreal than the story that preceded it.

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