Marly YoumansCritiques

A point off for very dense reading, due to the author's excellent attempt at making the language authentically 17th century. (To be honest, it doesn't feel like the language is naturally 17th century, more like the author adds in words and phrases that her 17th century dictionary told her were 17th century. I doubt people actually spoke certain phrases in the stilted manner the author presents.)

It is uncommon that I find historical fiction set in early America very easy to read, probably because I tend to nitpick it more than is healthy. But I'm very pleased to say I had no such problems with this elegant, lyrical novel, which was thoroughly satisfying and very readable.

I suspect this is going to be one of those books that will come back to haunt me at later dates. It is hard to describe the emotion it evokes when Catherwood is lost in the wilderness with her child. I have been lost, for only a few hours, in a wood, and I recall how frightening it seemed to me to know that I had lost the trail and might not find it again. In my case, a search party would have been launched within hours, I’m sure, had I not returned; in this case, lost is lost and Catherwood must find her own path out of the true wilderness she has wandered into.

There is, it seems to me, a great symbolic arc to this story, along with the very realistic one of loss and desperation. I did not want the story to end as abruptly as it did, but I realized that the object of the tale had been achieved, and knowing more about what happened beyond that point might diminish, rather than enhance, the impact.

In the end, this book is hard to describe. It has a fairytale quality or an ancient folklore vibe. It has a poetic element that has nothing to do with rhythm, but with flow. The second half of it reads like it could be sung in Homeric ballad style. I seldom read anything that I feel is completely unique, but I would dare say this is.

The other odd thing about this book is that I stumbled upon it while just scanning through a list of books, never heard of it or the author, and picked it out of a list of some 200 titles. It was as if it called to me to read it, and read it now. I had no intention of doing so…my list of planned reads is long and pressing, and the time for reading this year is closing in. Then I came across it again in a friend’s 2022 plans. I felt compelled, so I abandoned the plans and read it today. Right book, right time. Occasionally, the literature gods smile upon us.

I love this book with an unreasonable passion. I can't explain it; it's a simple narrative, not terribly likely, a single arc. It's just that every word seems true, despite the unlikeliness of the plot. Youmans has never written anything else like it. It seems to have arrived like a visitation from a parallel reality. News of those is valuable to me.

After Pip (dontcha love that name?) suffers a great loss at such a young age at the White Camellia Orphanage, off he goes. He travels the country by boxcar, meeting some wonderful people along the way, including his first love. But the yearning for home is strong and when opportunity arises, he heads back. The writing was superb--it had a wonderful rhythm to it. Great story!

Darkly beautiful. I wish Marly would write a sequel or two.

A magical world, a fierce girl, and beautiful/strange writing. Who could ask for more?

"Curse of the Raven Mocker" and its companion novel "Ingledove" are truly American fantasies, set in the Great Smoky Mountains and infused with the Scots-Irish and Cherokee mythology of that region. I can't recommend them highly enough to anyone who wants a change from European-based fantasies. "Raven Mocker" is the story of Adanta, a girl whose mother is lured away by the man-raven shape changer of the title. Adanta journeys to try and overcome the evil and reclaim her mother. The quirky and unusual characters she encounters along the way populate a lushly-drawn landscape that is both real and on the borders of mystery. Bird catchers, stolen brides, native plants and animals, and tale-telling spirits are just a few of the alluring details of this world. I also really appreciated that Youmans doesn't give us a comfortable happy ending - it is optimistic, but there is sorrow mixed in too, just like real life.

It is a short novel, but rich in detail and thus not as fast a read as it appears. Marketed at Young Adults, there is enough that is original and compelling about the book that it should not be overlooked by an older audience.

Concise, poetic novel telling the story of a young woman, with a child, who wanders for months lost in a dense forest. Set in 1676 and ff. Intense, convincing description of a colonial woman lost in the limitless woods. Based on a historical record.

Several years after Fontana dam flooded the town where they were born, Ingledove and her brother Lang go wandering in the southern Appalachians, where they encounter their mother's peculiar people, the Adantan, and an evil being who charms Lang. A very odd book, but quite lyrical.