History Literature / BeforeWeDisappear

Wilhelm Gessler is also a magician's assistant, but his situation is far more unfortunate: his master, Teddy, is a thief who posses as the great magician Laszlo. As Laszlo, Teddy abuses Wilhelm's actual magical ability of teleportation to steal a number of valuable goods throughout America. Wilhelm hates being an accomplice to Teddy's crimes, but is unable to leave: Teddy keeps Wilhelm under a tight thumb by making the teenage boy dependent on his care.

When the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alaska%E2%80%93Yukon%E2%80%93Pacific_Exposition Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition]] draws the attention of both stage magicians, a competition ensues between Evangeline and Teddy: the Enchantress's natural charisma and feats of stage magic quickly draws in an audience, while Leszlo's tricks- bolstered by Wilhelm's teleportation- snatches up some of that same audience's attention.

As the feud grows, Evangeline orders Jack to figure out how Teddy is performing his impossible featured trick so she can co-opt it for her own act. This leads Jack to finding out about Wilhelm, his mysterious ability, and his mistreatment at the hands of Teddy. A romance develops between the two, but it may end before it can begin: Teddy has another heist planned, one that will have dire consequences for Wilhelm if Jack, Lucia, and a few other unexpected allies don't come up with the most stunning act of magic yet.

''Before We Disappear'' is a 2021 [[HistoricalFiction historical]] {{young adult}} novel by Shaun David Hutchinson. The story is told in first person through the perspectives of Jack and Wilhelm. Chapters alternate between the two points-of-views.

* DarkAndTroubledPast: Wilhelm was taken from his home by Teddy at the age of four, presumably for his magical gift. Teddy physically mistreated him to monstrous levels, including bleeding him to keep him weak, keep him chained to a bed so he can't teleport away, and any attempt at making an escape was met [[spoiler:the brutal deaths of the people who could help him. First it was his tutor when he asked for help, then a boy he befriended and saved using his powers]]. %%stopped here
* EarnYourHappyEnding: [[spoiler:After years of abuse under Teddy, Wilhelm is now free, having a boyfriend by his side and an idea of where to find his family.]]
* EveryoneHasStandards: Jack is a thief that makes a living basically out of stealing the tricks of other magicians, but he is apalled by how Teddy treats Wilhelm as basically a prisoner.
* LimaSyndrome: Teddy genuinely believes that he loves Wilhelm and sees him as a son, and that Wil should see him as a father figure as well. Teddy is so thoroughly twisted and demented, however, that he doesn't realize that his way of treating will is genuinely abusive and horrifying.
* {{Foreshadowing}}: When Teddy traps Wilhelm in a cage, the latter describes the cage's bars as being as thick as his arm. When Jack is visiting the exposition of the Alaskan gold, he uses a similar description for the setting where the gold is being exposed. [[spoiler:Soon after, they realize that Teddy is forcing Wilhelm to teleport through bars to steal the gold.]]
* GentlemanThief: Teddy's initial attempt at fame and fortune was to become this, though Wilhelm did all the work. He stole things and left behind an origami animal as a greeting card. When this produces none of the attention he wants, he moves on to the plan of becoming a popular magician. [[spoiler:Though it turns out to be a front to try to steal the gold in the Alaska exposition.]]
* HistoricalFiction: The story is set during the Alaska–Yukon–Pacific Exposition, in Seattle during the early 1900s.
* HoistByHisOwnPetard: [[spoiler:Teddy's desire for fame ends up coming back to bite him. Jessamy is able to trace his crimes and find the people that hired private eyes after him, contact them, and point them towards him.]]
* IronicName: "Church" is the name given for the night-time parties with illegal booze at the Bohemian.
* LovableRogue: Jack. He is a gleeful thief who enjoys and almost compulsively pickpockets those around him, but he is also incredibly charming to those around him.
* LovelyAssistant: Both Jack and Wilhelm are a GenderInverted version of this, both being magician's assistants and good-looking young men, though as part of his act, Lazslo calls Wilhelm an "ugly caterpillar". Jessamy, the "butterfly" of Lazslo's main illusion, is a much more typical example of it, being a beautiful young woman that appears in the magician's act.
* PetTheDog: Deconstructed. Wilhelm believes that Teddy deep down might still have some good on him because of the rare occasion in which he shows care in a typical fashion to him, over the course of the story, though, Teddy reaching ever lower lows in how he is treating Wil, culminating in [[spoiler:him kidnapping and torturing Jack in from of him.]]
* PoliticallyIncorrectVillain: Teddy is a foul man that abuses Wilhelm and has kept him since he was a child. He is also a raging racist who scowls whenever Ruth, a black woman, comes in his view.
* QueerRomance: Part of the story is the blossoming romance between Jack and Wilhelm.
* StageMagician: The story contains two competing magicians: on one side, The Enchantress, an internationally known magician that has been stealing acts from other magicians, and Lazslo, the latest venture of a man named Teddy that is after fame and fortune.
* TitleDrop: Wilhelm's narration in the final chapter has the line "before we disappear" when [[spoiler:he kisses Jack and teleports them to what he believes to be his childhood home.]]
* RiddleForTheAges: Wilhelm's powers never get any sort of explanation.
* TheUnfavorite: It's clear Evangeline has a preference for Jack over Lucia. She tends to downplay Lucia's achievements and even ridicule some of what she does. [[spoiler:When they confront each other about this, The Enchantress explains she always expected Lucia to do more, that she had the potential to be her equal, while Jack was always meant to be only an assistant, which is why she was harder to her, making Jack some sort of unfavorite as well.]]
* WrenchWench: Lucia, Jack's sister. She is the one responsible for building the contraptions and machinery necessary for the illusions performed by The Enchantress.

Seventeen-year-old Jack Nevin is the thieving assistant of the international magician the Enchantress. Her other assistant, Lucia, possess a mechanical mind and a fine eye for detail. When combined with Jack's thievery, the Enchantress is able to performing stunning feats of stage magic. However, one stolen trick too many forces the trio to flee Europe for America.

When the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alaska%E2%80%93Yukon%E2%80%93Pacific_Exposition Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition]] draws the attention of both stage magicians, a competition ensues between the Enchantress and Teddy: the Enchantress's natural charisma and feats of stage magic quickly draws in an audience, while Teddy-as-Leszlo's tricks- bolstered by Wilhelm's teleportation- snatches up some of that same audience's attention.

As the feud grows, the Enchantress orders Jack to figure out how Teddy is performing his impossible featured trick so she can co-opt it for her own act. This leads Jack to finding out about Wilhelm, his mysterious ability, and his mistreatment at the hands of Teddy. A romance develops between the two, but it may end before it can begin: Teddy has another heist planned, one that will have dire consequences for Wilhelm if Jack, Lucia, and a few other unexpected allies don't come up with the most stunning act of magic yet.

* AbusiveParent: Evangeline is the closest thing to a mother Jack and Lucia has, and although she isn't physically abusive like Teddy, she is cold, distant, selfish, and only sees them as means to an end, with Jack being certain that the moment that they are no longer of use, she might dispose of them. The two even know they shouldn't disagree with her on anything and she makes all decisions for them. [[spoiler:When Jack fails on one of her cons, she forces him to sleep in the workshop, offering no bedding for him until Lucia finds one for him.]]
* BetaCouple: Ruth and Jessamy, which are the friends of Jack and Wilhelm respectively.
* TheBigDamnKiss: Jack and Wilhelm have one when the two are alone in the Beacon after a "Church" party. Because of Wilhelm's powers to increase feeling beyond the physical in the between, the kiss is almost an espiritual experience for Jack.
* BreakingTheFellowship: [[spoiler:At the end of the novel, characters go their separate ways in groups, after being able to arrest Teddy. Jessamy and Ruth leave to the US East, for Ruth to start medical school and Jessamy to try becoming a pinkerton. Evangeline and Lucia run away, possibly on their separate ways, after stealing the gold. Wilhelm and Jack are off to go somewhere else after Wil's family (possibly being outside the country, since Wilhelm suddenly starts speaking German when he is hypnotized to remember his childhood).]]
* TheCaper: Towards the end of the book, the story focuses on two parties: Teddy's and Jack's. While Jack wants to rescue Wilhelm from Teddy's hands, Teddy [[spoiler:intends to use Wilhelm to perform a magic trick that will allow him to steal the gold in the exposition, giving him fame and fortune. Jack, with the help of Lucia, Evangeline, Ruth, and Jessamy plans out a counter-caper to publicly expose Teddy and keep him away from the gold, though in the end, Lucia and Evangeline use the entire thing to steal the gold themselves.]]

** The gold in the exposition that Jack and Ruth see twice during the novel. [[spoiler:It turns out to be Teddy's real target in the exposition.]]
** The pink pills that Teddy feeds Wilhelm. [[spoiler:They turn out to be iron supplements, which Teddy has fed Wilhelm to keep him sick and weak.]]
** The Phoenix, an illusion that Lucia comes up with but gets shot down by Evangeline. [[spoiler:Evangeline decides to use it to make one grand, final show in the AYPE that will steal all the notoriety from Teddy.]]
* ColdIron: Wilhelm has this problem, which seems to indicate (though the book doesn't spell out) he may be of TheFairFolk.

* DarkAndTroubledPast: Wilhelm was taken from his home by Teddy at the age of four, presumably for his magical gift. Teddy physically mistreated him to monstrous levels, including bleeding him to keep him weak, keep him chained to a bed so he can't teleport away, and any attempt at making an escape was met [[spoiler:the brutal deaths of the people who could help him. First it was his tutor when he asked for help, then a boy he befriended and saved using his powers]].

[[caption-width-right:300:Magic, a world fair, and romance]]

Jack Nevin and Lucia are assistants to the international magician the Enchantress. Jack's thievery and Lucia's mechanical mind are what bolster the Enchantresses claim to fame, but one stolen trick too many forces the trio to flee Europe for America.

Wilhelm Gessler is also a magician's assistant, but his situation is far more malicious: his master, Laszlo, is a thief who uses Wilhelm to perform heists. Unlike Laszlo, Wilhelm possesses the actual magical ability to teleport, a magic that Laszlo fully exploits to steal a number of valuable goods throughout America.

When the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alaska%E2%80%93Yukon%E2%80%93Pacific_Exposition Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition]] draws the attention of both stage magicians, a competition ensues between the Enchantress and Laszlo; the Enchantress's natural charisma and feats of stage magic quickly draws in an audience, while Leszlo's slight-of-hand, bolstered by Wilhelm's teleportation, snatches up some of that same audience's attention.

As the feud grows, the Enchantress orders Jack to figure out how Laszlo is performing his trick so she can co-opt it for her own act. This leads Jack to finding out about Wilhelm, his mysterious ability, and his mistreatment at the hands of Laszlo. A romance develops between the two, but it may end before it can begin: Laszlo has another heist planned, one that will have dire consequences for Wilhelm if Jack, Lucia, and a few other unexpected allies don't save Wilhelm in time.

''Before We Disappear'' is a 2021 historical young adult novel by Shaun David Hutchinson. The story is told in first person through the perspectives of Jack and Wilhelm. Chapters alternate between the two points-of-views.

[[caption-width-right:300:''A true magician never falls in love.'']]

''Before We Disappear'' is a 2021 YA book by Shaun David Hutchinson.

The book follows two boys in early 20th Century Seattle, at the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alaska–Yukon–Pacific_Exposition Alaska–Yukon–Pacific Exposition]]. One, Jack Nevin, is the thieving assistant of international magician The Enchantress, responsible for helping her on and off stage, performing the tricks he steals from other magicians. The other, Wilhelm Gessler, is a boy with the power to teleport himself and other objects, kept under the thumb of a man called Teddy that uses his tricks in search for money and attention, with his latest goal is to steal the eyes of the AYP Exposition from The Enchantress as the new magician Lazslo and using Wilhelm's magic to make great illusions.

!Tropes

* IllBoy: Wilhelm has a weak constitution and has to take daily pink pills to keep himself together. [[spoiler:Later revealed that he is perfectly healthy, the pills were the thing making him sick, as Teddy was trying to limit his powers.]]

* EveryoneHasStandards: Jack is a thief that makes a living basically out of stealing the tricks of other magicians, but he is appaled by how Teddy treats Wilhelm as basically a prisoner.

* ChekhovsGun: The gold in the exposition that Jack and Ruth see twice during the novel. [[spoiler:It turns out to be Teddy's real target in the exposition.]]

* TheUnfavorite: It's clear Evangeline has a preference for Jack over Lucia. She tends to downplay Lucia's achievements and even ridicule some of what she does.

* AbusiveParent: Evangeline is the closest thing to a mother Jack and Lucia has, and although she isn't physically abusive like Teddy, she is cold, distant, selfish, and only sees them as means to an end, with Jack being certain that the moment that they are no longer of use, she might dispose of them. The two even know they shouldn't disagree with her on anything and she makes all decisions for them.

* DarkAndTroubledPast: Wilhelm was taken from his home by Teddy at the age of four, presumably for his magical gift.
* EveryoneHasStandards: Jack is a thief that makes a living basically out of stealing the tricks of other magicians, but he is apaled by how Teddy treats Wilhelm as basically a prisoner.
* GentlemanThief: Teddy's initial attempt at fame and fortune was to become this, though Wilhelm did all the work. He stole things and left behind an origami animal as a greeting card. When this produces none of the attention he wants, he moves on to the plan of becoming a popular magician.

The book follows two boys in early 20th Century Seattle, at the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alaska–Yukon–Pacific_Exposition Alaska–Yukon–Pacific Exposition]]. One, Jack Nevin, is the thieving assistant of international magician The Enchantress, responsible for helping her on and off stage, performing the tricks he steals from other magicians. The other, Wilhelm, is a boy with the power to teleport himself and other objects, kept under the thumb of a man called Teddy that uses his tricks in search for money and attention, with his latest goal is to steal the eyes of the AYP Exposition from The Enchantress as the new magician Lazslo and using Wilhelm's magic to make great illusions.

* EveryoneHasStandards: Jack is a thief that makes a living basically out of stealing the tricks of other magicians, but he is apaled by how Teddy treats Wilhelm as basically a prisioner.

* EveryoneHasStandards: