This was a
little unusual and unexpected, but very clever, quite delightful, leaving you
with just the best feeling inside by the end. Elsa, is almost eight,
extraordinarily bright, some would say unbearably precocious. The story is told
entirely through her eyes; the very small world that almost eight-year-old
children inhabit. What is ordinary, mundane, rational, and every day to a grown
up – other people, events, places - in
the imagination of a child become something else entirely. I was reminded so
many times while reading this of ‘The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nightime’,
where adult stuff is dealt with in the child mind in a way that us adults just
would or could not even begin to comprehend.
Elsa is
coping with quite a lot of adult stuff in this story. Her parents have
separated, with her mother now living with George and pregnant with Halfie – of
unknown sex, but half Mum-half George. Her Dad lives with Lizette and her two
children. She loves her Dad very much, finds her relationship with him a little
strained, and is sad that she doesn’t see as much of him as she would like.
Elsa lives with her mother and George in a big old house that has been divided
up into apartments where assorted other people live. Including her grandmother
who is the most important person in her small world. Granny is the most marvellous elderly woman,
completely mad, reckless, and unrestrained in her attitude to life and her
actions. She was once a doctor, working
in war and disaster zones around the world. Naturally over the decades this has
all landed her into numerous trouble spots – both physically and figuratively!
Child and elderly woman adore each other. Granny is a storyteller and has
created for Elsa the Land-of-Almost-Awake, with magical kingdoms, characters
and adventures. In the real world where Elsa is struggling with the changes in
her family, is bullied and under attack at school, to be able to escape with
Granny into her magic place is the one thing she holds onto.
One day,
Granny goes away again. Before she goes she gives Elsa a letter which sets Elsa
on a magical adventure of her own, delivering Granny’s special messages as she
has requested. In the process Elsa learns all about her Granny, as well as the
place she calls home, the neighbours who live around her, and above all a lot
about herself.
It is a
story of great imagination, although I am a little sceptical that a child such
as Elsa really does exist. I feel mean, but I did get just the tiniest bit
tired of the Land-of-Almost-Awake, the magic kingdoms, the symbolism – there is
a lot of it, and the reader is constantly being brought back to it just in case
we forget! A lot goes on in these imaginative phases, and I did get a bit lost
with who was who, and who was doing what! But it doesn’t really affect the
story in the real world. Like with many things with children, symbolism and
imagination can help them deal with the real world much more effectively than
counselling or adults trying to explain stuff.
I think this
book is written for adults, and others may also find the magic thing a bit much.
Nevertheless, it is the type of story which straddles both adult readers and
young readers, and I think it would be absolute magic for a grandparent wanting
to read or share a story with a youngster. I know I would have loved to have
had this read to me by a grandparent!
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