Murkmere
Patricia Elliot, . . Little, Brown, $16.99 (344pp) ISBN 978-0-316-01365-9
This fantasy, an absorbing coming-of-age tale, centers on 15-year-old narrator Agnes, an orphan living in the desolate fenland of the Eastern Edge. The novel opens as the lord of Murkmere Hall, an isolated estate, has sent for Agnes to act as a companion to his ward, Leah, who was left as a foundling at his gates. Leah, a moody and wild adolescent, also 15, delights in escaping Aggie's watchful eye to go to the mere (which gives the castle its name) in order to be with the swans. The citizens of this land believe that birds are divine creatures, and some suspect that Leah is one of the cursed avia—half-bird, half-human—feared and hated by the villagers and outlawed by the ruling Ministration. The political and social climate for this bleak, joyless and puritanical fantasy land bears a strong resemblance to Oliver Cromwell's England (this land is also ruled by a Lord Protector). Elliott's (
Reviewed on: 02/20/2006
Genre: Children's