author: Sally Gardner
genre: Historical YA fantasy
Grade: A
Note: This is the book written in the style of charging for two books for one story.
That is why I have reviewed them together.
The story begins in France, during the first hot days of the revolution. Yann Margoza is a member of a magical troupe of actors who are invited to perform at a private party for Count Kallivoski. The party is to be given at the home of the Marqui de Vileduval. Attending the party, her first ever public outing, is Sido, the young and despised daughter of the Marquis. She suffers from an unfortunate limp received in the carriage accident that killed her mother. The vain Marquis, who can hardly stand the sight of his "maimed" daughter, has built passages all along the chateau so that he never has to see the servants. Yann, waiting for the performance to start, meets Sido as he explores these passages. These simple acts -- attending a party, exploring a passage -- change the course of their young lives. Yann finds himself running from Count Kallivoski and Sido finds herself desperately trying to outwit him as the revolution rages around them both. Will the magic they both hold be sufficient to save them during these dark times?
Every once in awhile I run across a book so good I have trouble describing it. This (or these) is/are such a book. Every character is so perfectly written, the plot so expertly conceived that all I can find to describe it are words of praise. Really. I have sat on this review for two weeks trying to think how to express it and coming up with nothing. The reality is that each layer in the book leads to the next and the art of this tale is the reader discovering each twist for them self.
I can tell you the magic used in it is very light -- it contains magic and magical people but it is less about the magic than it is about the people. I liked that several prominent characters had no magic at all. The book also highlights how appearances can be deceiving but it never once tells you that -- it merely shows it through the characters and their interactions. I adored young Yann, who has a fantastic heart, and also Tetu -- a clever and wonderful father figure. Sido is not as fully drawn but we receive enough information about her to convince us that she is worthy of Yann.
The tone gives a hint of fairy tale rather than reality, though it most assuredly is ground in reality. The revolution is a thread through out the tale, bringing more than a taste of tragedy to the story but not drowning it in sorrow. I especially liked the contrast between England, which is at peace (on its own shores, anyway) and France, which is being torn apart. For me it just highlighted how a few hundred miles can make all the difference in life. I also liked how Gardner sympathized with the class struggles and rampant material inequality that lay at the root of the revolution. What happened with the guillotine, with the nobility and those that served them, was perhaps tragic but I thought it was good that cause and effect were both discussed here, rather than just the tragic occurrences of the war.
I enjoyed this story immensely and give it a strong recommend.
Tea: Earl Grey, to celebrate the rational over the emotional.
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