by Amal El-Mohtar
“There was a time when grammar was wild-when it shifted shapes and unleashed new forms out of old. Grammar like gramarye, like grimoire. What is magic but a change in the word…but that is the nature of grammar-it is always tense, like an instrument, aching for release, longing to transform present into past into future into will. (pg. 1-3)
The Hawthorn sisters, Esther and Ysabel, live in the small village of Thistleford located on the edge of “the beautiful county of Acadia, the beautiful land- the land beyond; antiquity” in other words, the beautiful land of Faerie. The sisters have 2 jobs: the first is to weave beautiful willow baskets, and the second most important is to sing to the willows. You see, “when they sang together, you could feel grammar in the air”. Ester, the eldest, is being pursued by the bachelor Mr. Pollard, who “always had the beseeching expression of a whining dog; his hand, bafflingly, were always somehow both cold and moist”…needless to say, Esther is in no way interested. Instead, her heart belongs to Rin (a beautiful nonbinary character). Rin is Fae; Rin is beautiful, loving, brave, and adoring. However, Ester is in a dilemma; although she loves Rin, she vows to never break the bond she has with her sister Ysabel. She loves her sister beyond life itself, and their bond is intricately woven together, not just because they are sisters but because of the magical bond created by the grammar when they sing.
When a violent incident occurs and tragedy strikes, Esther has to choose between living in the world of Faerie with her love and staying in human form or living in the land of humans in the form of a swan. Will the bond between the sisters survive the conflict that ensues?
This novel is a treasure trove for literary analysis. Its symbols, including the river Liss, the Willows, Mr Pollard, and the land of Faerie, are rich and complex, offering ample material for exploration. The novel’s prose, too, is a delight, best savored when read slowly and contemplatively, much like a piece of poetic verse.
This novel is also beautifully published, interspersed with what looks like linocut artwork by artist Kathleen Neeley, enchanting and folkloric.
If you loved How To Lose the Time War, co-written by El-Mohtar you love this novel.
Ink And Spine 