Book Review: The Ivory Obelisk

Reviewed by S.A. Evans

Hidden truths and broken bonds in a masquerade ball—a deeply felt psychological novel.

The Ivory Obelisk is a tale about the kind of regret that comes from suppressing grief. Our main character, Fabian Loxley, is an 87-year-old businessman of a pharmaceutical company. His main objective is to distract himself from recurring nightmares and the work required of him in the company’s recent merger. 

He’s brimming with regret for the choices he’s made, while his dear friends try to help in any way they can. These friends consist of Gianni, an Italian chef, Sebastian, an Austrian butler, and Alden, Fabian’s arguably longest friendship. At one point Alden evens says, “One minute, he’d be fine; the next minute, he’d be staring off into space or lost in a glass of whisky.” I believe that’s the best way to describe Fabian. An old flame of his even mentioned, “Regret and guilt are tough things to handle sometimes. You can’t let it consume you” It is with all this that the question arises: can Fabian face his inner demons before it’s too late?

While on the way to a masquerade party to celebrate the merger, Fabian gets into a car accident, leaving his body in critical condition. However, in his subconscious state, things take a turn—the masquerade ball he ends up at is filled with various characters from his personal life.

Thinking this is all a dream or nightmare (seeing as the manor the party takes place in is the same manor from his frequent nightmares), Fabian tries to make sense of what’s going on. When Alden appears, Fabian learns that the only way for his physical body to stay alive is to make amends to the people he wronged in the past and ultimately heal from the guilt and grief he’s harbored for years. 

From room to room, Fabian makes the rounds to greet the guests before attempting to make the apologies. Alden urges Fabian to hurry since the apologies must be made before Fabian’s physical body dies. Once an important guest named Gordon goes missing, everyone splits up in groups and tries to find him before time runs out for Fabian to get the emotional closure he needs.

“Opening my eyes, I spotted a tear in one of his, but his face was full of defeat and empty of hope.”

Since time slows down to search for Gordon, flashbacks keep the pace moving and  provide much needed backstory as to why Fabian feels like he needs to atone for his wrongdoing. While some flashbacks occur with unnatural transitions, they all play a role in showing us what kind of man Fabian is. With a big party like this one—and each one being a person from real life—there are a lot of characters to keep straight. But Eli Kale succeeds in something I’ve never seen before: a study of remorse at a masquerade ball.

Grief and regret are handled with great creativity in this novel. It shows how the gravity of those things can weigh on a person over time and that it’s better to bridge connections while you can and know you did all you could instead of bottling it up. The stories of the guests and friends are heartwarming, and it’s an entertaining mystery to find out who died, why they’re still there, and how much they meant to Fabian. The story’s title has a touching purpose too. If you love emotionally-charged stories told through the lens of psychological fiction, you must read The Ivory Obelisk. 

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