Summers at Castle Auburn; Sharon Shinn

Ok, I'm falling way way behind here. This is my last June write up, then I've gotta get going with the July books. Procrastination is my middle name. Summers at Castle Auburn was published by Ace in 1991. Link to author's website in the title above. Nowadays it can most often be found in the young adult section. Cover image courtesy Fantastic Fiction.
For those of us who have no idea where Cotswold England is, here's a map courtesy of Cotswold PC. Ms. Shinn has set this novel in the Cotswolds area, albeit way back in the mists of alternate history.

Coriel and Elisandra Halsing are what contemporary folks would call half siblings. Unfortunately, Coriel was born on the wrong side of the blanket, so she was pretty much left with her granny until her father dies. Then her uncle convinces Coriel's wise woman granny to allow Coriel to spend the summers with him and his niece Elisandra at the seat of power: Castle Auburn. Elisandra has been betrothed to Prince Brian Ouvrelet since they were infants. Appearances are deceiving with Elisandra, beware coming to quick conclusions. Bryan is what he seems, unfortunately. Selfish, petulant, manipulative and cruel Bryan is destined to become the next King when he reaches his majority in several years. Kent Ouvrelet is Bryan's cousin, nurtured from the cradle to the responsability and duty of his position. Currently that seems to be mainly smoothing over ruffled feathers in Bryan's wake.

Coriel is the odd girl out. The reader benefits from her perspective as the outsider, but her lack of knowledge of some of the hidden currents of political and social events colors our perceptions. Through her eyes we watch events unfold over the summers: alliances made and alliances weakened, the young folks grow and change. More reckless, more aware, creating public personas, each person develops over the course of the years. Could Coriel be more unaware of the feelings of those who love her? Could the reader have seen it coming sooner? Finally the denoument arrives. Decisive actions and far reaching choices must be made. What happens to Coriel and Elsisandra makes for fascinating reading.

Very highly recommended.

A College of Magics; C. Stevermer

Originally published in 1994 by Tom Doherty & Assoc., ACoM was written by Caroline Stevermer. A link to Ms. Stevermer's website (a very basic one) is in the title above. Ms. Stevermer has also co-authored a series of young adult fantasy novels with Patricia Wrede. This is a young adult fantasy set in England and eastern Europe in the early 20th century.

The protagonist is Faris Nallaneen, Duchess of Galazon, eighteen years old. Faris has been sent away to a finishing school, which also has a reputation for turning out witches (unknown to Faris' evil uncle). Said evil uncle has his own reasons for sending Faris away, which he naturally doesn't reveal to her, but which likely involve political schemes and ransacking the peasants for more tax money. We watch and observe as Faris makes friends, grows and changes, makes enemies and is forced to leave school early for a fate unknown and unlooked for.

I must say I wonder why redheaded heroines are often described as either rangy/gawky/awkward or statuesque. Rarely any other description. How come? No petite curvy feminine redheads. Not that this quibble interfered with my enjoyment of this novel, I simply noticed it early on in this novel & the description made me think of many of the other novels I've read whose heroines are redheaded (or some other descriptive term that means essentially the same thing). Anyhow- back to ACoM.

Faris' best friend and her bodyguards have lots of adventures together on their journeys across Europe (pre WW I). Her new mentor is, to say the least, unusual. I found Faris to be prickly and dense at first, although these character traits are fully explained later. I thought her uncle's motives in the end (which were obvious to this romance reader, anyway!) should've been on her radar, but weren't.

A thoroughly enjoyable adventure/coming of age novel, I recommend it to all who enjoy watching young ladies come into their own.

2 Young Adult Reads

Hannah's Garden by Midori Snyder

Cassieopeia Brittman has parented her mother Anne for most of her childhood, which was spent wandering the U.S. barely one step above homelessness. Finally Cassie and Anne have settled into a small university city south of Anne's (and Cassie's) birthplace, a small farm. After promising Cassie she'd spend her student years single and unattached, Anne brings Gunnar the Swedish Viking filmmaker home one morning. Poppie Brittman (Anne's father), a reclusive and eccentric (Aren't they always?) but extrememly talented painter is in ICU in the local communtiy hopsital. Anne and Cassie must drop everything to return to the small rural community Anne fled when Cassie was very small. All is not what it seems, though. Who is Melvin Steiger, really? Why does everyone in town like him when it is immediately obvious he's not helped Poppie around the property as he ought to have? Who is the mysterious fiddler who rescues Cassie more than once and how could he possibly be in a photo of Cassie's grandparents when Poppie was a babe?

This novel reminds me strongly of Solstice Wood by Patricia McKillip (my thoughts on Ms. McKillip's book in the title link). Less intense & less layered perhaps, but they both resonate. Excellent book. Plan to hunt up Ms. Snyder's other works at the library. Published by Viking in 2002.



Monsoon Summer by Mitali Perkins

A detailed, finely nuanced coming of age tale set in India and California. The Gardner family, most often of Berkeley CA has arranged to spend the summer in India doing various charity projects in the orphanage that raised Sarah Gardner to age 4. Sarah's daughter Jasmine is unhappy about the change of summer scenery, primarily because she's fallen in love with her best friend and business partner Steve Morales- who is being preyed upon by practically every girl that matters at their local school. Jazz would prefer to spend the summer at home & keep Steve safe. Of course, being 15, actually getting up the courage to tell him how she feels is impossible. India is wonderful and scary and interesting and overwhelming all at once. Each member of Jazz's family is compelled to change and grow before the end of summer and the long long flight to CA.

MS really kindled a desire to learn how to make yummy authentic Indian curries, made me reflect on the beautiful Indian women in our area- their saris and gold jewellry & how very feminine they look. Jazz suffers from many of the typical female pychological issues: low self esteem, poor body image, emotional honesty, etc, but what really touched me is Ms. Perkins' portrayal of a girl trying to wall herself into a protective cocoon and the country that helps her gain inner strength and courage.

Definitely planning to look up other works by Ms. Perkins. This title like others she's written are aimed at young adult readers.