If you have read and enjoyed The
Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making
(also reviewed on this site) then you will be thrilled
to see that it now has a sequel. A year has passed since September’s
adventures and she is finding life on the farm difficult.
She has no friends at school and her father is away fighting
the war. But on her fourteenth birthday she spies two people
obviously from Fairyland and gives chase, ending up in Fairyland
once more. But everything is different; the people there are
losing their shadows, and with them their magic. Can September
confront Halloween the Hollow Queen and put things back as
they were, or have things gone just too far...
If you haven’t yet read book one do go back and do so
as this is very much a sequel. Once again this puts me in
mind of the Victorian and Edwardian children’s books
I enjoyed as a child – with a special modern twist.
Adults will enjoy it just as much if not more than children,
and the way it is written with its asides about the nature
of childhood and growing up makes it more of a book for adults
anyway. It taps into the current trend for fairy-tale-themed
fiction and does its own thing, operating on many levels as
a fun read on one hand and something much deeper and more
complex on the other. September is now learning about being
an adolescent, and growing a heart, which makes her more thoughtful,
and her attitudes to situations different. This is a story
about being responsible for one’s own actions and cleaning
up the mess, but if that makes it sound worthy it is anything
but. There is a lot to enjoy in here from the shadow versions
of September’s old friends to a goblin market, knitting
minotaur and prince to rescue. Miss this at your peril!
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