This is a gorgeous, old-fashioned magic story, in which two sisters stumble into the secret world inside the lilac hedge that rings their home, and become entangled with dark magic and charming creatures of fey. I particularly enjoyed the rivalry between the sisters, which is very realistic -- as well as their deep down love and loyalty to each other. This had echoes of Enid Blyton's magical stories, though it is a bit darker than most of Blyton, and I was also reminded of the atmosphere of the Elizabeth Goudge novels I adored as a child (maybe Jen read them too??)
Special kudos to Lucia Masciullo's illustrations, which are delicate and beautiful, and suit the story perfectly. A lovely package which would appeal to young girls who like fairies and princesses, and deserve better fare than those bloody awful Rainbow Fairy books.
OMG I read that book a few months ago and loved it.
ReplyDeleteWhat a lovely surprise, Kate! I'm thrilled that you enjoyed AP and that you really got it! When it came out it only had one sniffy review in the Age and the woman said 'Storer seems to be channelling Enid Blyton'. Isn't that a good thing? Anyway, I was rather hurt (even though we're not supposed to take these things personally). AP is my homage to Enid and if anything it is slightly tongue-in-check (the chapter titles and the nostalgic storybook world etc). Kate, I laughed out loud at your 'bloody rainbow fairies' comment!!! That is EXACTLY why I wrote AP. I felt fairy stories deserved better and those bloody books make me groan with despair. Thank you, Kate, again! xx
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