# Question about Neil Gaiman short story, "Queen of Knives"
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-neil-gaiman-short-story-queen-of-knives/523558
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [January 4, 2010, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-neil-gaiman-short-story-queen-of-knives/523558 "2010-01-04T01:13:48Z")
**Posts on this page:** 4
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Electric\_Warrior](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Electric_Warrior)
#### Post date: [January 4, 2010, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-neil-gaiman-short-story-queen-of-knives/523558/1 "2010-01-04T01:13:48Z")
Well, technically it’s a poem, but in a sense it’s just a short story with line breaks. So for those who haven’t read it, “Queen of Knives” is one of the stories in Gaiman’s collection _Smoke and Mirrors_, and in fact it’s the story that gives the book its title. As is most of Gaiman’s work, it’s a joy to read.
For those who have read it, I was wondering if it can be assumed that
Pearl ran off with the magician. Does the motif of the repeated line, “You made me fall in love with you / I didn’t want to do it” suggest that maybe she felt trapped in the marriage? Or - because this is a Gaiman story after all - should we just take it at face value that the magician had supernatural powers, and made her actually disappear?
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### Author:  [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)
#### Post date: [January 4, 2010, 6:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-neil-gaiman-short-story-queen-of-knives/523558/2 "2010-01-04T06:03:37Z")
> [@Electric\_Warrior](#):
>
> Well, technically it’s a poem, but in a sense it’s just a short story with line breaks. So for those who haven’t read it, “Queen of Knives” is one of the stories in Gaiman’s collection _Smoke and Mirrors_, and in fact it’s the story that gives the book its title. As is most of Gaiman’s work, it’s a joy to read.
>
> For those who have read it, I was wondering if it can be assumed that
>
> Pearl ran off with the magician.
I wouldn’t say so. I think
She disappeared by herself.
The whole story ties in fairly well thematically with the next one, “[…]Mrs Finch”
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### Author:  [@Electric\_Warrior](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Electric_Warrior)
#### Post date: [January 4, 2010, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-neil-gaiman-short-story-queen-of-knives/523558/3 "2010-01-04T22:48:42Z")
> [@MrDibble](#):
>
> I wouldn’t say so. I think
>
> She disappeared by herself.
>
> The whole story ties in fairly well thematically with the next one, “[…]Mrs Finch”
Oh, interesting! I haven’t read Mrs. Finch, because I have the American edition.
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### Author:  [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)
#### Post date: [January 5, 2010, 7:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-neil-gaiman-short-story-queen-of-knives/523558/4 "2010-01-05T07:34:47Z")
Well, very basically, it also involves a show (more a carnie funhouse than a magic show, but with elements of Grand Guignol and Macabre). As you can tell from the full title (I was wrong, it’s “Miss” not “Mrs”) “The Facts In The Case Of The Departure Of Miss Finch”, there’s a departure or disappearance there too. Different in tone and setting, but there are common threads.