NOTE: Reviews are the opinions of the individual reviewers and not necessarily those of The Chiaroscuro as an entity unto itself.
| by William D. Gagliani Email: tarkusp@execpc.com
When Matilda (Matt) Black meets Edmund, he is coming out of a wall—literally. Matt is a homeless loner who speaks to inanimate objects (what do our cars think of us? and our appliances?) and who can manipulate various types of magic found at the edges of our world. But Edmund is special, too, for the reason he had stepped into the wall was to strengthen it and keep it from crumbling. It doesn't take them long to realize that their talents are complementary, and that in fact Edmund is in trouble. He has cut off a part of himself because of some trauma in his past, and Matt offers to help him retrace his steps and hopefully help heal him. And so, in the best tradition of the Quest, these two extraordinary and yet frail people attempt to nurture a friendship that will help heal them both. Their road trip forms the core of the novel, with a return to Edmund's hometown and visits to people and places whose memories bring pain. But the first is a special house—a house haunted by the ghost of a boy who had befriended Edmund and his circle of friends years before, giving them a refuge away from their own homes. The ghost, Nathan, also has a role to play in Edmund's healing—as does Susan, the girl Edmund may have loved but who has fled the area and her identity and even her name. Now Suki, Susan wants no part of Edmund's trip into the past, and Matt realizes that any healing will have to include her. And Edmund's sister, for whom magic is about to become a strange and wondrous problem. How Matt helps Edmund and Suki regain their youth and innocence is a touching story of new friendship overcoming the trauma of evil, of real life, and of hurt done so often in the name of love. Hoffman's handling of the very real themes of abuse, lack of self-esteem, and loneliness makes this novel's startlingly beautiful and simple prose rise far above the level of most contemporary fantasy. The author of The Thread that Binds the Bones and countless beautiful short stories has crafted what is, quite simply, a novel to be savored and enjoyed and treasured long after the last page has been turned. |
If you've followed my Literature Fantastique column, you know how much I love and respect the stories of Charles de Lint, whose sensitive and moving tales of modern fantasy consistently touch on themes of friendship and love and courage in facing some sort of hardship. Nina Kiriki Hoffman brings those very same qualities to her own fiction, a kind of gentle allegory in which emotional obstacles must be overcome in order to find happiness, a task which can only be completed successfully with the help of friends you didn't know you needed.