The Girl who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making
Written by Catherynne M. Valente
September was a girl who was tired of washing pink-and-yellow teacups and of her home in Nebraska, and that is the perfect time to be swept away. Just like Dorothy and Toto were swept away from Kansas, one state below, September is taken by the winds too. More specifically by the Green Wind, who shows up at her kitchen window with the Leopard of Little Breezes and offers to take her away. She accepts, and away they go.
Fairyland has more wonder than madness and more imagination than wonder. Everything about this book is beautiful. The story is written in first person, but September, while the heroine, is not the narrator. Rather, the narrator is unnamed, and speaks with a kindness that delivers the words to you like a mother reading a bedtime story. The language used feels magical, and there is sweetness and wisdom in its characters. In Fairyland, September quickly finds herself abandoned by her guide, but it does not take long for her to make friends or enemies.
Fairyland is a marvelous place, but when September enters it she finds it ruled by the Marquees, whose jurisdiction is viciously controlling Fairyland. Before September can enjoy her stay, she finds that she is pitted against and threatened by the Marquees, who send her off on a dangerous and spectacular adventure around Fairyland.
September’s first friend is named A-through-L (Ell for short); he is a wyvern and believes his wyvern mother’s story when she claims that Ell’s father is in fact a library. A-through-L, the “wyvernary”, is named thus because he knows anything that starts with A-through-L (his brother and sister know the rest). Ell is likely the gentlest, cleverest, and most adorable dragon-like character to ever exist, and I will fight anyone who says otherwise. Together, Ell, September, and a marid named Saturday must find a way to overcome the Marquees and restore Fairyland to a land of freedom.
This book must be read slowly so as to not miss anything, not a word, because the author, Catherynne M. Valente, has created a world that can grab you tight and whisk you away. Every word adds to the magic. So if you dare, put down your pink-and-yellow teacups and climb out the window. Fairyland awaits.
Published in The Independent: http://theindependentmag.org/the-arts/down-the-rabbit-hole/