A Review of “Blank Paige” by Ashley Griffin
by Chris Peterson, OnStage Blog Founder
Blank Paige, the new novel by Broadway writer and bestselling author Ashley Griffin, is the most original story I’ve read in a long time – and I mean that in the best way. It is brilliantly genre defying, not only in how it may be categorized, but in the very nature of the narrative itself. It is meta too. In a way, it is a spiritual successor to The Neverending Story. I am still left with the hazy, magical feeling that these characters might actually exist, or I might turn a corner and a beguiling Bookstore might appear, or, indeed, that Ms. Griffin might be the real life Childlike Empress.
Set in an ethereal Bookstore where all of the employees are fictional characters who have yet to be written, and must live a purgatory-like existence tending to the literary cannon until their author shows up to claim them, Blank Paige follows Paige – an intelligent young woman who is the only character to arrive in the store without any knowledge of her genre or story. Paige’s appearance sends the world of the Bookstore into a tailspin – causing the characters to question how much free will they have over their own lives, and threatening to destroy the very fabric of imagination. In this world, characters are far more complex than their archetypes would imply, and nothing is as black and white as it appears.
I’m not sure how to share more about the story without spoiling the plot. Though enjoying the story is not dependent on the plot being a mystery (it is the kind of book you can read over and over again and get new things out of it,) I don’t want to deprive you of the magic of discovering the story and the beautiful twists and turns along the way. I will say that, as others have noted, Griffin is second to none at world building, and we meet a cast of characters both familiar and original that are utterly enchanting. Paige’s adventures bring her into interaction with the likes of an utterly loveable Velveteen Rabbit, dangerously playful Cheshire Cat and more, as well as new favorites like the phenomenal Eleanore – a YA “sick lit” heroine who is witty, endearing and rather tired of being depressed and angsty - secretly wishing she were part of a different story. Then there is the dashing Wesley – the tortured hero of a Byron-esque Gothic tale whose relationship with Paige is the twist on “bad boy romance” we’ve all been dying for but never thought would actually happen, Dewey, the physical manifestation of the Dewey Decimal System who one imagines being played by Tina Fey somewhere between her “Weekend Update” and “Sarah Palin” mode (especially after hearing Griffin’s brilliant performance for the audiobook), Drystan – the “Scarecrow” of this Ozian-adjacent tale who stands in opposition to Nightingale – the manager of the store who is either the villain of the piece, a charlatan, or secretly the only thing standing between the store and some unknown menace… And the enigmatic “Owner” of the bookstore who Paige and crew set out to find (and is nothing like what you can imagine.)
And then there is Paige herself who, despite her “blank” moniker, is the most fully developed YA heroine I’ve seen in a long time. Intelligent, active, creative and both powerful and vulnerable - the essence of her “problem” is that she doesn’t fit in a box – threatening to bring about the end of, not only the world, but imagination itself. It is a fear that, deep down, we can all relate to.
The feeling that you don’t know who you are and that, if you did, far from being a perfect “chosen one” you might actually discover that you’re utterly and completely “wrong” is deeply resonant. How Griffin manages to walk the line between a character who both can’t be easily defined and is a fully formed, very real person, I don’t know. It is the hardest kind of tight wire act. Griffin makes look easy.
Paige’s adventures take her into the worlds of other stories (again, both known and original. Indeed how Griffin creates so many fully fleshed out worlds is remarkable – I would like to see them all have their own spinoffs). It is an epic tale with literature itself as the backdrop (and more than a few easter eggs from Griffin’s other work – her stories feel like part of a very real, unified universe). Real life authors play a part in the story as well.
There is something very fresh about this piece. It reminds me of when The Night Circus came on the scene and utterly surprised the literary world. Indeed, Blank Paige could sit comfortably on the shelf next to not only the work of Erin Morgenstern, but Neil Gaiman, Susanna Clarke, Catherynne M. Valente, Baum and Carroll (she has already been compared to MacDonald and Lewis, though Blank Paige bears more in common with Neverwhere or Piranesi then The Princess and the Goblin (the reverse could be said about her first novel, The Spindle)).
Blank Paige may be Griffin’s sophomore novel in publication (her debut novel The Spindle which was released last year became a best seller), but apparently it was one of her first artistic ventures. Blank Paige was first written as a series (it has received interest from networks) and was then developed as a novel by Griffin before she ever set pen to paper on The Spindle. I would love to see Blank Paige as a series – but it works perfectly as a novel as well.
Blank Paige is a beautiful exploration of fate versus free will and the power of stories. It could have been written by no one other than Griffin, and yet is unlike any of her works I have previously experienced. And jumping back to the audiobook – it’s one of the best listening experiences I’ve had in a long time. Griffin is an established performer (she’s a Broadway artist who’s been working as an actor since she was a child) and it shows! I find it rather stunning that she is the only person voicing every character – it sounds like an ensemble cast. And it makes the meta elements especially poignant.
This is a story for anyone who has ever felt “wrong”. This is a book I want to give to my kids, my students, my mentors and that I want to reread myself. I highly recommend you check it out. This is a special story.
Blank Paige is available wherever books are sold. Check it out at: