Vice is made visual in Vyletas sprawling, ambitious novel, a Dickensian tale tinged with fantasy and set roughly a century ago.
In his imaginary England, heated emotionsanger, excitement, or even lustcause plumes of sooty vapor to waft from the offending body.
Though everyone Smokes, it doesnt preclude judgment: The upper classes send their children to boarding schools where they learn to control it; if they cant, there are costly man-made ways to hide it.
Troubled teen Thomas, whose Smoke is so dark and thick hes said to have evil within him, befriends kind, well-bred Charlie at one such school, and the two stumble upon signs that perhaps the world hasnt always been this way.
With the help of Livia, a snobbish aristocrat who enthralls them both, the three set out on a dangerous but fascinating quest for the truthwhich Vyleta reveals with lovely, visceral prose and expert pacing.A
