Dear Monica Furlong,

Colman – Monica Furlong

When Wise Child and Juniper’s lives are endangered, Wise Child’s best friend and cousin Colman comes to their rescue–he and Cormac the leper help the two women escape.  The four flee aboard Finbar’s ship and sail for Cornwall, Juniper’s birthplace, only to find that things there are not as she left them.  Her parents are dead, their castle burned to the ground; her baby brother, now a teen, is held captive by Meroot.  Juniper and Finbar must save the kingdom just as they did when they were children themselves, now with Wise Child, Cormac, and Colman to help them–but it will be dangerous, and Wise Child’s in a foul temper, and Colman doesn’t trust his own growing doranic powers.  They might have a chance to save the young prince and the rest of Cornwall–if they can survive that long.

Colman, the third book in your series, is definitely one I haven’t read before–because it didn’t come out until 2004, long after I read Wise Child and Juniper.  How exciting it must have been for fans of your work to finally read a third book!  I know I was very pleased to have it to hand, and it definitely lived up to the example of the previous two.  I think what’s so satisfying about it is that you made the marvelous choice to not only continue on from the suspenseful ending to Wise Child, but also to revisit the plot, and attendant dangers, of Juniper.  You satisfied my urges to hear continuations of both stories at the same time, and it made the drama of Colman all the more urgent–everything seemed to be finally wrapping up.  I loved Colman’s voice as the narrator; his bafflement at Wise Child’s moods and his sometimes clueless, sometimes brilliant assessments of what was happening around him were always a delight.  I read some criticism that didn’t like the switch to a male perspective, but I actually found it to be a great way to get a different perspective on Juniper and Wise Child, both of whom I’ve become very fond.  Also, why shouldn’t a boy have a turn at some mystical powers?  The only other male sorcerer in the books is Meroot’s evil husband, and I’m glad you used Colman to show the other side of the coin–a boy who has power, but is as uncertain and stumbling as anyone else, slowly learning to use it and trust it.  You get five stars again, and my thanks, for a wonderful journey.

PS–This one is also my favorite cover of the three.  That’s the Dillons being all awesome and stuff again.  It makes me want to go back and reread The Abhorsen Trilogy, just to have a few days’ worth of ogling those covers.

Love,

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Dear Monica Furlong,

Juniper – Monica Furlong

A prequel to Wise Child, this book follows Juniper’s adventures as a young princess in Cornwall, plucked from her easy life and placed in the care of the old wise woman Euny.  Training to be a doran under Euny’s tutelage, Juniper has to adjust to hard work, meager food and troubled, uncomfortable sleep.  Her training pays off, though, when her power-hungry aunt Meroot tries to sieze the throne with help from a sinister and dangerous new husband.  Juniper and young Finbar, a messenger in Cornwall’s castle, must ride to the aid of Meroot’s bespelled son–but can Finbar’s courage and Juniper’s magic win against Meroot and her husband’s black arts?

How wonderful it was to read Juniper and find that the beautiful, happy, tender woman I loved so much in Wise Child had once been a slightly cranky and confused child!  I loved the sensory detail of this book–the hard stone of the hearth where Juniper slept and the way it was cold by morning, the texture of the horrible-sounding soup Euny made for her first meal in the tiny house, the stunningly beautiful colors and textures of the cloak Juniper wove for herself as part of her doran training…even the sulphurous smells in the final battle scene were so vivid to me.  This book made me love Juniper even more than I did before, especially for the ways in which she repeated Euny’s teaching with Wise Child, and also the ways in which she disagreed and went against her own teacher’s methods.  I even came to forgive passionate young Finbar for the way he’d mostly abandoned Wise Child in the first book.  I got a lot of pleasure out of all the moments when the two books overlapped, also–like the little shock of recollection I had when I started reading Juniper and discovered that her given name is Ninnoc, and then realized Euny had called her that once in Wise Child, without any explanation given to the reader.  You were clearly thinking ahead, and that made me supremely happy.

I also have to make another comment about the incredible cover to this book.  The Dillons really never miss a trick, do they?  I studied the cover of Wise Child, and the cover of Juniper, and found that the images adhered to what you described in your prose down to the last possible detail.  That’s the kind of attention that doesn’t happen with many fantasy covers, and I think it’s all part of the sensory depth of these particular books.  It’s really unfortunate that the Random House website doesn’t even list Juniper anymore–I presume it’s gone out of print, which means it’s time for me to start looking for a nice used copy.  Because of course, this is another five-star book, which I must add to my fantasy shelf.

Love,

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Dear Monica Furlong,

Wise Child – Monica Furlong

Wise Child’s mother abandoned her as a child, and her father is a sailor, forever at sea.  Except for her cousin Colman and her grandmother, she’s alone in the world–and her fate takes a sudden turn when her grandmother dies, leaving her without a guardian.  Wise Child is surprised and uncertain when Juniper, the healer and supposed witch of their remote Scottish village, offers to take her in.  With Juniper, Wise Child begins to get an education–not only in bookish things and healing arts, but also in the ways of a doran, a woman in tune with nature.  Wise Child’s strength and loyalties will be tested, however, when her dark sorceress mother reappears, heralding the beginning of the end of peaceful life in Juniper’s house.

This isn’t the first time I’ve read Wise Child, though my recollection of it from childhood is like a memory of a dream–vague but powerful.  Reading it now was an extremely nostalgic experience, and I remembered at once how much I loved Juniper as a child, and wished I knew a woman just like her.  The gentleness of this book, the simple living and harmony with nature and the subtle underlying feminism of it, just entranced me all over again.  Wise Child’s narration is both hilarious and poignant at once–her swiftly changing moods and childish stubbornness, and her slow, strong affection for Juniper all made her seem very real, while still being very separate from myself as a reader.  You accomplished something really spectacular here, and I wish more people knew it.  Everyone I’ve talked to about this book remembers the striking cover (thanks to the Dillons for that!), and the women my age remember reading it, but only after I tell them what it’s about.  It’s one of those under-the-radar books that isn’t long or crazy complex or totally out of the ordinary, and yet it’s one of the best fantasies I’ve read, up there with Abhorsen and Abarat and A Wrinkle in Time.  So here’s hoping that my enthusiasm can convince a few more people to read it.  Five stars and big ups to you, Monica.  Thanks.

Love,

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