#ThrowbackThursday The Night Rainbow by Claire King
Throwback Thursday is a weekly meme hosted by Renee at Its Book Talk. It's designed to be an opportunity to share some favourites as well as older books in our TBR pile which were published a while ago. I'm hoping to take part in this meme throughout 2018 as it's one of my book resolutions to read more of the novels that I have had sitting around for a long time.
This week I have cheated though, and I'm sharing an old favourite - a book that I read and reviewed a year ago but is still fresh in my mind. I hope you enjoy this review which I have edited from a previous longer post, and hope to see you next week with a review of something from my TBR pile!
THE NIGHT RAINBOW by CLAIRE KING
"Margot is like me and she is not like me. I am 5 and a half. Margot is only 4 but she's tall for her age. We both like cuddles and insects and cuddling insects and we both have freckles and green eyes, like Maman, with sparkles of blue and brown. In the sunlight Maman's eyes are kaleidoscopes. Margot and I are the same and not the same, you can tell by our dreams. I am always dreaming about witches chasing me, or picnic days at the beach before all the dying happened - these are the best ones. Margot dreams more about the tiny people that live in the cupboards and have parties on Thursdays, and about jigsaws that make themselves."
WHAT'S IT ABOUT?
Summer in the south of France. Pea and her little sister Margot spend their days running free and inventing games in the meadow behind their house. But Pea is burdened with worries beyond her five and a half years. Her father has died in an accident, and her mother has just lost a baby. Maman is English, isolated in this small, foreign village, and in her sadness has retreated even further. Pea tries her best to help, makes Margot behave, brings home yellow flowers, but she can't make Maman happy again. When Pea meets Claude, a man with a dog who seems to love the meadow as she does, she believes that she and Margot have found a friend, and maybe even a new Papa. But why do the villagers view Claude with suspicion and what secret is he keeping in his strange, empty house?
WHY IS IT AN OLD FAVOURITE?
Claire King's use of imagery is stunning and there is a real sensory overload throughout the whole book. I was there. I was in France, in the summer, in the sticky heat, in the meadows and in the market place. Every sight, smell, touch or taste is captured and used to enhance the characters, the action and the plot. King also uses the imagery of nests, birds and flight which actually carry much more deeper, hidden meanings as the novel unfolds.
I will not forget Pea. She is a heroine - a delightful girl who has the heart of an angel and the kindness of a fairy. Although only 5, her voice is endearing, yet fresh, and sometimes so starkly insightful it brings a lump to your throat. Pea's narrative is strong and her observations of the world around her capture her sense of bemusement, delight and discovery. We are gently immersed back into the world of a young child and invited to see the world from her perspective. The conviction of Pea's voice comes from her innocence and naivety, Pea and Margot's struggle to understand the sometimes baffling behaviour of the adults, and the lovely way in which a child can observe things yet completely miss their significance.
There is also a lovely humour throughout the book which delicately lifts the story and levels any oppression from the enormity of what Pea and Margot are actually handling.
WHY SHOULD YOU READ IT?
This is a story that will overwhelm you with the scent and heat of a summer in France, which will tickle you with the wings of a fairy and entertain you with the escapades of two young girls. It will also encourage you to see the world through new eyes - eyes which at times see things with more perception, frankness and profundity than any adult, while also not seeing the threats, dangers and complexity of what is happening around them.
It's a story about the blessings and perils of imagination and truth. It's about innocence, friendship, trust and love. There is grief, there is compassion. I just loved it and I can't forget it!
"The Night Rainbow" by Claire King was published in 2013.
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