Now Read This: “The Dream Peddler,” by Martine Fournier Watson

Robert Owens is a travelling peddler who roams from one town to the next selling his wares. And in many ways, he is simply ordinary, just one of the many salesmen who pass through Evie Dawson’s unnamed town. But Robert’s merchandise is unlike anything this town has seen before: he deals in dreams. For a small fee, he will concoct a vial of any heart’s deepest desires. For just one night, almost any dream can come true, and satisfaction is guaranteed.

However, just as Robert arrives in town, Evie Dawson’s son goes missing. And Robert’s carefully laid plan of slowly drawing people to his stock of dreams without seeming like a charlatan may go awry. The town is busy searching for the missing boy, and there is little time to think about entertaining the dreams Robert claims to sell. But after a disaster like the one that befell the Dawson family, people slowly begin seeking out the desires they set aside during the tragic winter. Some come to him for love, others for a glimpse of the future, but Evie seeks him out to avoid dreams altogether. And while Robert never intends for any harm to come to this town, the dreams he sells begin to affect more than the townspeople’s slumber.

Sarah Vohsen

I wasn’t sure if I was going to enjoy “The Dream Peddler” when I first opened it, since magical realism isn’t a genre I favor. But the story itself sounded interesting, and I was surprised when Martine Fournier Watson’s prose captured me from the very first line: “The light of the gold harvest moon woke Benjamin Dawson from his dream.” Much of this book has small snippets of detail that are like this, and each description gives life to the characters and the scene, dropping this magical idea of made-to-order dreams into an overly realistic world. This contrast between the magical aspects of the story and the realistic power of desires made the premise easily believable.

Although this novel moves slowly, Watson used this pace to create a vivid world that I fell into before I realized what had happened. I would definitely recommend this book because of its well-developed characters and unique writing style.