itibaren Pondi, Madhya Pradesh 484771, India itibaren Pondi, Madhya Pradesh 484771, India

An astonishing novel, with an opening that is both harrowing and upsetting. Liga is abused first by her father abd then, after his death, a group of boys. On the verge of suicide, she is granted a safe haven to raise her two daughters in peace and safety. The real wold intrudes, howver, and one of her daughters longs for escape. In rich, earthy, rhythmic prose, Lanagan reworks the Grimm fairy tale into a meditation on suffering and consolation, freedom and restriction. Funny, horrifying, bittersweet and uplifting, this is a major piece of literature, Young Adult or otherwise.

I always admire an author's ability to write a timeless novel. While I can't explain what this story is about any more than I, myself, can write timelessly, Francie's story is a genuinely unpretentious one that gives us a private look inside the home of a poor family living in Brooklyn in the early 1900s. The story is finished, and I find myself continuing to think of Francie, Neely, Katie, Johnny, the aunts and those who passed through the lives of the Nolans.