Saturday, March 17, 2012

Solstice Wood

I was the delighted recipient of a treasure trove of Patricia McKillip books for my birthday so I've been joyfully diving into the new worlds of an old love. While I loved all of the books, the one that sang was the one that straddled this world (or a close variation thereof) and a mythical world. 
Occasionally a book comes along that you fall in love with. 

While you journey within it's covers you heart is bigger, your mind expands and leaving it is a terrible wrench. Mckillip's Solstice Wood is that kind of book. McKillip's dense and heart-full language makes her works harder to read than many other books - but also more rewarding. 
McKillip makes you think and feel, sigh and wonder, but you have to work for it.  Solstice Wood is about a wood between the worlds and a house that stands guard against the uncertain vagaries of faery. Culminating on a night that echoes A Midsummer Night Dream, Solstice Wood is a plea for openness to the heart and to 'other'-ness. Returning to a theme that is dear to McKillip, when the strange and fae come knocking it is not always to harm. 

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