The Confabulist is the fourth novel by Canadian author, Steven Galloway. Martin Strauss admits upfront to being an unreliable narrator; after all, his doctor has just told him Yours is a rare condition in which the damage that is being done to your brain does not destroy cognitive function but instead affects your brains ability to store and process memories. In response to this, your brain will invent new memories. The reader does well to keep this in mind as Martin tells the tale of his encounter, as a young man, with the famous Harry Houdini, an encounter that ends with him causing Houdinis death. Or does it? Martin tells us I didnt just kill Harry Houdini. I killed him twice. Intriguing, to say the least. Galloway weaves many known facts and real people from Houdinis life into his novel, bringing to life historical facts and anecdotes whilst constructing his mystery. The narration switches between Martins life in the present day, Martins life in 1926 and 1927, and details of incidents in Houdinis life. Just as in any good magic show, the reader is left wondering what, precisely, is fact and what is illusion, no doubt exactly as Galloway intended. As well as enthralling the reader with accounts and explanations of Houdinis tricks, Martins version of Houdinis life includes the Secret Service, Scotland Yards Special Branch, the Russian secret police, Russian nobility, sances and spiritualists, kidnap and coercion, diaries in code, a Congress Judiciary Subcommittee, spies and thieves, murder and a mystery daughter. Martins mother offers advice long after she departs this world, providing a source of both wisdom and humour. Galloway explores the nature of truth: truth wasnt easily identifiable. You could spot a lie, but the opposite of a lie wasnt always the truth; of parenthood: Being a parent is a monumental thing. You shape reality for another person. You cannot be an illusion; and of memory: A memory isnt a finished product, its a work in progress and What is a memory anyway, other than a ghost of something thats been gone for a long time? This novel is imaginative, intriguing and ultimately, very moving.