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Musings: The Black Witch by Laurie Forest

The Black Witch by Laurie Forest

HarperTeen, 2017

ISBN-13: 978-0373212316

Available: Hardcover, Kindle edition, audiobook

 

Not too long ago, there was controversy over racism in The Black Witch. based on this review. I was sent a copy for review, and the press release seemed to indicate the book was supposed to be the exact opposite of racist, so I sat down and read it, and thought about it. About two days later, there were protests in Charlottesville, Virginia, and I had to rethink my first impressions.

The Black Witch is the story of Elloren, the granddaughter of the great hero-mage of Gardneria, the Black Witch.  Elloren looks just like her deceased grandmother, but unlike her, has no magic. She has lived a sheltered life, raised by her uncle far away from pretty much everyone and everything. She’s nice enough, but doesn’t have enough experience to form her own opinions, and is easily led. Now that Elloren has turned seventeen, her Aunt Vyvian, a powerful mage and political leader, has come to take her to be wandfasted (wandfasting is a magically binding marriage contract) as part of securing a political alliance. Elloren’s uncle, however, has made arrangements for her to attend university and train as an apothecary. Vyvian offers to take Elloren to the city to outfit her, and attempts to convince her to abandon her studies and instead marry into another powerful, magical family. Not knowing any better, Elloren absorbs Vyvian’s cruel, elitist, racist views instead of trusting her own instincts, and makes both friends and enemies. Despite her aunt’s best attempts, though, Elloren insists on attending university.

The problem with university is that it encourages independent thought, and also exposes Elloren to people who are different from her, in race, attitude, culture, and socioeconomic class. These include the Lupines (werewolves, considered bestial and dangerous by most Gardnerians) selkies (part seal, part human), Kelts (losers in the last war against Gardneria), Vu Trin,  Amaz (similar to Amazons), Urisk (treated as slaves, after all males were exterminated), Elves of various kinds, and the demonic-looking Icarals. While Vyvian is wealthy, Elloren’s uncle is not, so Elloren she is stuck on work-study with Urisk and Kelts who despise Gardnerians, and forced to room with Icarals who terrify her.

In a strategic error, Vyvian refuses to help with Elloren’s situation until she decides to wandfast, meaning Elloren is forced to learn to get along with a wide variety of people, many of whom don’t like her because of who she is. She makes a lot of mistakes, some of which are painfully cruel– there’s one horrific scene in which a nasty and politically powerful mage threatens the families of the Urisk and Kelt kitchen staff after Elloren tattles about their bullying– but she slowly learns to work past many of her prejudices. She’s very lucky that there are a lot of people willing to cut her a break. All this is going on in an atmosphere of growing authoritarianism that is about to take a sharp swerve into fascism. While it doesn’t touch her in the same ways as some of her fellow students, even Elloren is not exempt from the government’s racist, homophobic, misogynistic ideas and decrees.

The story of Elloren is the story of a lot of white people who have never met someone who isn’t like them, believe what they’re told by authority figures, and don’t think for themselves, who then leave for university and learn that the world is more diverse than they’ve been led to believe (I’ve known many of them). It can be a long process of back and forth, making mistakes, obliviousness, and selfishness before reaching self-awareness and beginning to consciously notice and change your views and actions. Most of the time it’s a slow process– people don’t magically change. I think this is the journey Forest wants us to see, and there are many people who can relate or who might reflect on some of the atrocious views and behaviors in this book and decide that maybe they need to change their own.

After the protests in Charlottesville,  Elloren’s slowly growing awareness seemed like a story that didn’t need to be told with the same urgency that many others do, and that might even be painful for some people to read. Despite some tantalizing beginnings, it’s hard for me to recommend this book unequivocally.  Forest has said she was attempting to address racism, not create a racist book, and I believe that, but it still packs a powerful punch. Here’s the thing: Forest has created a potentially rich world with a lot of characters, most of whom barely have their backstory sketched in. Even with just outlines, some of their personalities are vivid, and I wanted to know more. Where are their voices? The characters and relationships that are most interesting are the ones in the margins or beneath notice of the powers that be. I am sure some of that will be addressed in the sequel, but in choosing a single point-of-view character, Forest chose the one with the narrowest and least interesting vision. In general, I think multiple point-of-view characters in YA fiction is a technique that is heavily overused, but here, I think it would benefit the story and the readers.

In writing about race, I think it’s now more important than ever to really think about how you are doing it and what effect it’s going to have on the readers you want to reach. There are a lot of people who just aren’t going to care about Elloren’s journey if that’s the central theme of the book. I notice that Tamora Pierce blurbed the book, and she’s an author who I feel has dealt skillfully with race and class in her Circle of Magic and Circle Opens books. Forest’s writing is awkward in comparison. However, I think Forest is a good storyteller, and I’m hoping she’ll learn from the controversy over this book and use it to grow as a writer. One of the better aspects of The Black Witch is the friendships that develop as the very different characters interact with each other in new ways. This gives her opportunities to reshape her narrative in the upcoming sequels. It’s not necessary to center white people in an obvious way in a book addressing race head-on when there are so many possible relationships to explore and stories to tell.

 

 

Posted on September 23, 2017 by , 2 comments

Book Review: Ink Stains: A Dark Fiction Anthology (Volume 3) edited by N. Apythia Morges

Ink Stains: A Dark Fiction Anthology (Volume 3) edited by N. Apythia Morges

Dark Alley Press, 2017

ISBN-13: 978-1946050014

Available: Paperback, Kindle edition

 

This is the third volume in a planned quarterly anthology of horror short stories published by Dark Alley Press.  The collection presents a variety of ghost stories, in which contemporary protagonists are stalked by ghosts from the distant or recent past, seeking solace, release or revenge.  The other Ink Stains anthologies in the series present stories about death and trust.

Volume 3 consists of 10 short stories of varying length, some written by seasoned writers and others by authors who recently entered the horror genre.  The three most interesting ghost stories were among the longest.  The greater length gave authors more time to develop characters and to add twists and turns to the plots.

New author Andrea Hansell wrote “A Visit from Elizabeth”.  A young couple, Mark and Bethany, buy a Nantucket sea captain’s house and invite former college classmates to spend a weekend.  However, Bethany is insecure and jealous of Mark’s gorgeous ex-girlfriend. Unknown to the couple, the house has a tragic history.  A sea captain built the house for his young bride, Elizabeth, then left to run the British blockade during the War of 1812.  The captain was captured and imprisoned.  Elizabeth was pregnant, and the British blockade caused famine in the island. Malnourished, Elizabeth had a stillbirth and died.  Her ghost watched her husband return, marry again, and raise a family in Elizabeth’s house. Elizabeth appears only to Bethany.  The ghost lures the frantic Bethany up to the house’s widow’s walk, where Mark is standing.  Elizabeth wants something, and will use Bethany’s jealousy to get it.

Diane Arrelle, a veteran horror author, is the author of “Misplaced”.  An elderly spinster, Miss Annamarie Place, visits an antiquated hotel in her hometown.  The room looks like it did over fifty years ago, when she was a teenager.  Annamarie has returned there because someone claiming to be her daughter called and asked to meet her.  But Annamarie has never been married or pregnant.  Could she have forgotten something so important?  Is dementia or psychosis robbing her of her memories?  When she looks into an old mirror, Annamarie hears a baby wailing, then sees the bed and walls covered in blood.  Bleeding, and in terrible pain, she relives what happened in that room.  Is this all a nightmare, or have Annamarie Place’s memories been truly misplaced?

Another new horror author, Olga Monroe, is the author of “The Amsterdam Chest”.  An English couple is renovating a Victorian mansion.  The wife, Francesca, sees the ghost of a teenage girl dressed in a black velvet dress with a corset and bone frame tapping on a large antique chest, purchased by her husband in Amsterdam.  The mansion and estate have a history of tragedy and mystery, and has passed through many owners over time. When the new owners drain a pond, they discover a headstone that has been submerged for over a century.  It has Latin inscriptions, but no name.  There are no remains.  Francesca recently lost her newborn baby.  She is still in mourning and keeps her dead baby’s clothes in the Amsterdam chest.  Only Francesca sees the ghost, and its appearances become more frequent.  At the same time Francesca becomes more nervous and apprehensive.  She is inexplicably wracked with guilt.  The ghost takes Francesca’s hand and leads her to the chest.  The ghost keeps knocking on the chest.  Its face is blurry at first, but finally becomes clear.  Who is she?  What did Francesca do?

These are the strongest stories in the anthology. Others are more predictable. Overall, the stories have well-paced, interesting plots. Fans of ghost stories should be pleased with the collection. Recommended.

 

Contains: gore

Reviewed by Robert D. Yee

Posted on September 15, 2017 by , Reply

Book List: Ordinary Heroes To Share With Your Kids

mister rogers helpers quote

It’s a scary world out there even if you don’t have your nose stuck in a book (sometimes even with horror, as the fiction can actually be more comforting than the reality) For sure, though, if you are anywhere around kids, you’ll know that they see and hear enough to get their anxiety ratcheted way up by what’s going on in the world today.

My daughter is pretty into the chapter book stage of childhood reading at this point but she picked out a book this week that actually is all pictures and no words, which is a pretty powerful illustration (that pun was not intended) of the impact ordinary people can make on the world. and it made me think of a couple of others that might be good to share with younger kids who are getting seriously worried. There is a lot going on that I haven’t figured out how to address with my kids– fear of nuclear war, hurricanes, wildfires– gosh, there’s so much to be afraid of. But also, there are helpers. Ordinary people. Artists, librarians, letter-writers, musicians, people walking down the street, even children, who have made a difference, and continue to do so.

 

Letters to a Prisoner by Jacque Goldstyn

This is the wordless picture book my daughter picked out. It’s very simple– line drawings that you could almost imagine a child drawing, with watercolor washes . In it, a father is separated from his child when a peaceful protest turns violent. He is jailed, isolated from the world. All kinds of people, from all over the world (and including one astronaut) write letters to him and on his behalf, until he flies away on their wings, home again.  The book was inspired by Amnesty International’s Write for Rights Campaign.
 

Painting for Peace in Ferguson by Carol Swartout Klein

In 2014, after a white police officer shot and killed an African-American man, Michael Brown, unrest and protests in Ferguson, Missouri resulted in violence and property damage. In an effort to begin healing the community, local artist Carol Swartout Klein brought artists and community members of all ages and races together to paint over the boarded-up storefronts with brilliant murals expressing hope and unity. Painting for Peace in Ferguson presents color photo collages of the creative people who participated and the art they created, over simple backgrounds created by Klein. Proceeds benefit art, youth and small business recovery programs in North St. Louis County.
 

Alia’s Mission: Saving the Books of Iraq by Mark Alan Stamaty

In 2003, Alia Muhammed Baker  was the chief librarian for the Central Library in Basra, Iraq. When the Iraqi military occupied the library, she knew it was only a matter of time before the library would be bombed and the books destroyed. Determined to save the books and the collective memory of the Iraqi people, she started smuggling books out of the library under her jacket, eventually filling her entire house with stacks of books. As the bombing escalated, she recruited friends to sneak books over a wall into the restaurant on the other side. With their help, Alia was able to save 30,000 of the library’s 40,000 books before the library was destroyed.  There’s a gorgeously illustrated picture book version of this story, The Librarian of Basra, but I like this graphic novel version better.
 

Mole Music by David McPhail

I love this book so much. Mole lives by himself, underground. Digging isn’t enough for him, so he decides to take up the violin. At first he’s terrible, but as he improves, the plants above his hole start to thrive. A tree takes root and grows, unnoticed, right through his ceiling, amplifying the beautiful music as the world above ground changes. Unaware as he is of the great conflict about to occur in the valley above him, it is Mole’s music that stops the armies in their tracks. One small person can have a very big effect.
 

Yo! Yes? by Chris Raschka

I get all children’s-librarian-geeky over this book. It doesn’t really have the message of  “we all can change the world for the better” or even “one person can change the world for the better.”Yo! Yes? gets down to the nitty-gritty: one person reaching out to another makes both of them richer. The text of the book is very simple– one or two words on each page. The words come from a conversation the author heard between two boys while walking down the street. The book is designed so that there is one boy on each page of the double-page spread, and you can see the two halves of the conversation going back and forth. The words are big on the page, so it’s a great shared-reading book, and you get to shout a lot, which is always fun. Our story here is that we have two boys, each on his own, and one reaches out to the other to make friends. This is not a quiet, tentative thing. Once these kids connect, they are loud and joyful. The world is going to hear them coming! But none of that happens without one ordinary kid calling out to the other, and getting a response.

And now back to our regular programming.

Posted on September 13, 2017 by , Reply
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