Bibliopath #7: In which a girl gets magic
Dear reader,
You know, I was wondering if you'd like Uprooted by Naomi Novik? It was originally recommended via Katharine as part of the ebook secret Santa of yesteryear, and being a Kat-grade suggestion, it is very good indeed.
It is ostensibly fantasy, but takes a right turn into the mythic foundation of Eastern European myths and fairytales, rather than Western ones, then taking a plot outline reminiscent of Beauty and the Beast, investing the female heroine with power and agency and letting her shake the world.
It begins with Agnieszka, who is almost instantly memorable—a klutzy village girl with a talent for saying the wrong thing at the wrong time—who lives in a small village, near a tower owned by a wizard called the Dragon, who collects one girl from the villages, every ten years. Agnieszka is chosen, to her, and the village's surprise, but where it goes from there is pitch-perfect plotting.
I don't want to spoil it for you if you should read it (and do so before the inevitable movie remake)—but there are so many many things I love about this book: the way that male and female language and being in the world is worked out through the metaphor of language (a la Le Guin); the moment that Agnieszka essentially wanders into a regency novel, decides everyone there is acting like an idiot and walks back out; or this moment, as Agnieszka looks at a soldier who is probably about to be spent in combat—and yet is turned into such an act of narrative generosity, of avoiding the narrative of the 'other':
"One of the stories was a boy my own age ... he'd chosen to go for a soldier. Maybe he had a story that began that way: a poor widowed mother at home and three young sisters to feed, and a girl from down the lane who smiled at him over the fence as she drove her father's herd out into the meadows every morning ... That was a story, too; they all had stories. They had mothers or fathers, sisters or loves. They weren't alone in the world, mattering to no one but themselves. It seemed utterly wrong to treat them like pennies in a purse."
It would be a perfect bridge for someone who 'doesn't-like-fantasy-but-has-read-every-Harry-Potter'. It would be an excellent holiday read, with a good pace and wholly realised characters. And it should stand as a testament to how much good there can be when we get past our default story settings.
A short note: I love writing these newsletters, but I've become more aware that I can't do it well without feedback. So, if you're reading this, take a moment to imagine this is not just an email to be filed away, but a moment where I'm telling you about a book I loved and you have the chance to tell me what you've been reading, or ask me for suggestions about what to read next, or even engage me for some bibliotherapy. Thanks.
Towards generosity and possibility,
Guan