CANR
WORK TITLE: Island of Whispers
WORK NOTES:
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WEBSITE: http://www.franceshardinge.com/
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COUNTRY: United Kingdom
NATIONALITY: British
LAST VOLUME: SATA 398
RESEARCHER NOTES:
PERSONAL
Born 1973, in Kent, England.
EDUCATION:Oxford University, M.St., 1996.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Writer. Has worked as a technical writer for Tao Group Ltd., Reading, England, and as a graphic designer.
AWARDS:Sutton Writers’ Circle Short-Story Competition winner, 2001, for “Borrowed Time”; Scribble Short-Story Competition winner, 2003, for “Bengal Rose”; Best Books for Young Adults selection, American Library Association, One Hundred Titles for Reading and Sharing selection, New York Public Library, William Crawford Award shortlist, London Guardian Children’s Fiction Prize shortlist, and Branford Boase Award (with Ruth Alltimes), all 2006, all for Fly by Night; Carnegie Award nomination, 2007, for Verdigris Deep; 12-16+ Award, UKLA Book Awards, 2016, for The Lie Tree; best translated YA book prize, Geffen Awards, 2020, for Hebrew-language version of Cuckoo Song; best translated YA book prize, Geffen Awards, 2022, for A Skinful of Shadows; best book for young readers, British Science Fiction Association, 2022, and named one of the 10 best science fiction books of the year, New York Times, 2023, and Mythopoeic Award for best young adult fantasy, Mythopoeic Society, all for Unraveller.
WRITINGS
Contributor of stories to anthologies, including Twisted Winter and Under My Hat: Tales from the Cauldron. Contributor of short stories to periodicals, including the Dream Zone, Wordplay, Alchemy, Piffle, Scribble, Subterranean, and All Hallows.
SIDELIGHTS
Frances Hardinge is the author of several tales for young readers, including Fly by Night, winner of the Branford Boase Award for first-time children’s writers, and Verdigris Deep, a contemporary fantasy adventure. Hardinge admits that she has been startled by her success as an author; in fact, she was in the midst of a yearlong trip around the globe when she received word that HarperCollins wanted to publish her work.
Born in 1973 in Brighton, England, Hardinge began writing at a young age, inspired in part by the rambling estate where she lived. “I can’t remember a time when I didn’t want to become an author,” she told Collected Miscellany Web site interviewer Kevin Holtsberry. “I still occasionally stumble across my first literary efforts, many of which tend decidedly towards the grotesque.” A voracious reader, Hardinge was drawn to the works of Susan Cooper, Alan Garner, Leon Garfield, T.H. White, and Robert Louis Stevenson, among others, and at school she enjoyed the writings of William Shakespeare and Charles Dickens. “English was a subject where I could read stories in company and discuss them,” Hardinge remarked to London Guardian contributor Alice Wignall. “It became a lasting obsession, an enthusiasm that hasn’t worn off.”
In 1996 Hardinge earned a master’s degree in English literature from Oxford University, where she cofounded a writer’s workshop, and she later took a job as a technical writer for the Tao Group, Ltd. She also began finding success with her short fiction, winning several awards and publishing stories in publications such as Alchemy and All Hallows.
Hardinge started working on her first book, Fly by Night, at the suggestion of Rhiannon Lassiter, a friend and fellow author. They began meeting weekly for brainstorm sessions, and although they generated a slew of ideas, they could not find one that satisfied both of them. Lassiter soon convinced Hardinge to attempt a work for young readers, and after she completed the first five chapters of Fly by Night, Lassiter took the manuscript to her editor at Macmillan. The work was quickly accepted for publication. In 2004, upon losing her job as a graphic designer, Hardinge decided to undertake her round-the-world venture. After receiving news of her book deal, she finished the trip and then returned home to begin a career as a full-time author.
Set in the Fractured Kingdom, a world that resembles eighteenth-century Britain, Fly by Night centers on twelve-year-old Mosca Mye, the orphaned daughter of an exiled scholar. After running away from home with her ferociously protective pet goose, Saracen, Mosca becomes the traveling companion of Eponymous Clent, a roguish wordsmith, and the trio makes its way to the city of Mandelion, where rival guilds of locksmiths and printers vie for power. Mosca and Clent soon find themselves in the employ of Mabwick Toke, the leader of the Stationers, a group that controls the distribution of literature and vows to shut down an unauthorized printing press. The intelligent and literate Mosca, however, finds herself torn between her loyalty to Clent and her personal beliefs.
In Fly by Night, Hardinge “has created a distinctly imaginative world full of engaging characters, robust humor, and true suspense,” noted School Library Journal contributor Steven Engelfried. A Publishers Weekly contributor cited the novel’s humor, remarking that the author’s “stylish way with prose gives her sprawling debut fantasy a literate yet often silly tone that calls to mind [the work of British comedy troupe] Monty Python.” “At best Hardinge’s writing puts her up there with [Joan] Aiken and Leon Garfield in the recreation of an England that never was,” remarked Guardian contributor Jan Mark, also calling Hardinge “a hugely talented writer of tireless invention and vivid prose.”
“From the start Fly by Night was designed to be a yarn that would be fun to write and to read,” Hardinge remarked in her Collected Miscellany interview. “The ideological themes developed quite naturally from the story. The setting for Fly by Night developed because of my fascination with the power, danger and importance of unfettered words, but it’s also a topic upon which I have certain views.” In a Bookseller interview with Caroline Horn, the author similarly noted of her novel: “I write about challenging your belief system and testing it and seeing whether it holds up—which is what Mosca has to do. Never believe something just because it’s told to you.” Despite some objections, Royston applauded Hardinge’s effort in Fly by Night, stating that the book “challenges the reader to figure out the true motives and natures of its characters, giving nothing away until near the end, and it unfolds its complications with great glee.”
Hardinge’s follow-up, Verdigris Deep, was published in the United States as Well Witched. The book concerns three children who gain disturbing powers in a most unusual manner. Finding themselves stranded without bus fare one evening, Josh, Ryan, and Chelle take a handful of coins from a wishing well. Soon, bizarre and unexplainable events occur: light bulbs explode in Josh’s presence, Chelle begins speaking words that are not her own, and Ryan notices strange growths on his fingers. The children are then visited by the spirit of the well, a female presence whose eyes flood like a fountain, and she demands that they fulfill the wishes attached to each of the stolen coins. As time passes, they learn to harness their powers: Josh discovers that he can control electricity, Chelle becomes a conduit for the wishers’ thoughts and feelings, and Ryan’s warts are transformed into eyes that allow him to see the secret wishes people make. Their task initially brings great joy: the children help a man gain possession of a new motorcycle and a woman find her true love. Later, however, the spirit’s directive becomes more difficult to accomplish: one individual no longer wants or needs assistance, while others have made wishes that prove to be motivated by hatred, requiring the children to perform loathsome acts.
Like Fly by Night, Well Witched also earned praise from reviewers. In the words of London Sunday Times contributor Nicolette Jones, the novel “is often creepy and tense, although it also has humour, and the characterisation is subtle.” Farah Mendlesohn, writing in Strange Horizons online, also complimented Hardinge’s handling of her characters, calling the conclusion “deeply satisfying: it is incomplete, problematic, and flows off the edge of the page.”
Reviewers in the United States also lauded Well Witched as an outstanding work of fantasy, a writer for Publishers Weekly hailing it as an “inescapably chilling” tale with a tightly woven plot, multidimensional characters, and strikingly original use of imagery. In Booklist, Carolyn Phelan also noted the novel’s “beautiful, precise imagery,” commenting further that Hardinge’s exploration of “subtle ideas and reflections” indicates an admirable respect for children’s ability to grapple with complex themes. A writer for Kirkus Reviews, describing the novel’s premise as “fascinating,” recommended Well Witched as a “vivid and imaginative” novel for young readers.
Gullstruck Island, published in the United States as The Lost Conspiracy, was described by Bookbag online contributor Jill Murphy as a “gorgeously dense fantasy.” It is set on a tropical island where conflict has defined the relationships between the dark-skinned and marginalized Lace tribe and the land-hungry Cavalcaste, who arrived on Gullstruck Island years earlier as invaders. Lady Arilou and her younger sister, Hathin, are Lace, and Arilou is believed to be a “Lost”—a revered person who can detach her senses from her body and secretly send them anywhere. The first Lost to be born among the Lace, Arilou provides her tribe with the means of protecting itself against Cavalcaste, and Hathin protects and serves her sister. Arilou faces a daunting challenge when Lost Inspector Raglan Skein arrives to meet Arilou and test her Lost powers. When Skein dies under mysterious circumstances during the test, the Lace suspect that Hathin may have been responsible.
As Mendlesohn pointed out, The Lost Conspiracy “contains the classic YA motif of the protagonist learning to know herself, but the book can also be understood as entire peoples coming once again to know themselves and to know their lands. What begins as one of the simpler of Hardinge’s books grows in subtlety and complexity.” London Guardian contributor Patrick Ness expressed similar admiration for Hardinge’s novel, calling it “delightfully inventive” and “endlessly creative.” Likewise praising the book’s marvelous plot and intriguing themes, Murphy also commented on the author’s special talent for crafting sentences and images, noting the “sheer joy of the words as they come together.” Gullstruck Island, wrote Murphy, “will transport its many readers.”
A Kirkus Reviews contributor remarked that the author reveals a complete knowledge of the world she has created, including the “complex mix of cultures and languages … [and] the nuances of religion and belief,” adding later in the review that the novel is “utterly mesmerizing.” School Library Journal contributor Carolyn Lehman commented that it will take readers a while to grasp the complexities of both the social and physical world the author has created. Lehman also noted: “The author is as inventive with language as she is with social and cultural constructs.”
Other reviewers also heaped praise on the novel. Krista Huntley, writing for Booklist, called The Lost Conspiracy “a deeply imaginative story, with nuanced characters, intricate plotting, and an amazingly original setting.” Writing for the Horn Book magazine, Deirdre F. Baker noted that the novel contains numerous political themes and that Hardinge presents a “many-layered, richly rewarding story.”
In an interview with Rick Margolis for School Library Journal, Hardinge commented on the theme of racism in her story and how she came to incorporate this theme into the novel. She told Margolis that the idea came from a holiday trip she took with her boyfriend and remarked: “It’s the result of little differences and dissonances and misunderstandings that I was noticing in a number of different countries as we were traveling, particularly those that had a colonial history, which I found fascinating and interesting not in the least because I was noticing my own blind spots.”
Mosca Mye returns in the 2011 novel, Fly Trap. She and Eponymous Clent travel through Toll, a town with a bridge that passes over the Langfeather River. When they reach the city, they discover that it has been captured by the Locksmith Guild. The townspeople who roam about during the day are wealthy and happy, but at night a different, depraved population emerges. Mosca, Clent, and others work together to kidnap Beamabeth, the daughter of Toll’s Mayor.
“Readers can look forward to a great story in this exceptionally clever novel, rich in descriptive language with colorful, quick-witted characters to match,” commented Tanya Paglia in Voice of Youth Advocates. Jonathan Hunt declared in a review for the Horn Book magazine: “Hours of sustained pleasure reading await the patient reader.” A Publishers Weekly critic asserted: “It’s a beautifully written tale, by turns humorous and heartbreaking and a sheer pleasure to read.” “Hardinge once again creates a strange original society that reflects our own in provocative ways,” remarked a writer in Kirkus Reviews.
After a terrible accident, Triss Crescent wakes but finds that her life feels odd and dreamlike. Her family members are treating her strangely, and she feels an intense hunger. Triss is disconcerted when she begins consuming her own possessions and begins to think she is going crazy. Triss becomes acquainted with a group called the Besiders, who take their instructions from a man called the Architect. She discovers that her family made a deal that provided them with success but also cursed them with long-lasting sadness.
Martin Chilton, a contributor to the London Telegraph Online, commented: “This dark fairy-story is long … but maintains its suspense well and is full of twists and creepy moments.” BookPage reviewer Diane Colson remarked: “With a combination of horror and wry humor … Cuckoo Song transcends its teen-reader designation.” “ Cuckoo Song is a sophisticated, disturbing tale that shivers with suspense and touching moments of bravery,” stated Sarah Berman in the Horn Book magazine. Booklist writer Krista Hutley described the novel as “a piercing, chilling page-turner.” A critic in Publishers Weekly called it “painful and powerful,” while a Kirkus Reviews contributor characterized it as “nuanced and intense.” “Those who like horror served with a side of hopeful frightfulness will thoroughly enjoy this book,” wrote Etienne Vallee in Voice of Youth Advocates. School Librarian contributor Joy Court stated: “The imagery and descriptions in this dark otherworldly, modern fairy tale are sublime.”
Set during the Victorian era, The Lie Tree tells the story of teenager Faith Sunderly. Faith moves with her family away from their home after her minister father’s scientific discoveries cause a scandal. They settle on the island of Vale, a remote place, but the villagers soon learn of the Sunderly family’s scandal. Faith’s father dies in a mysterious manner, and Faith vows to determine why he died and to continue his scientific work.
“With her trademark wit and intelligence, Hardinge steers the intricate plot to a satisfying conclusion. At once entertaining and provocative, this is rich and resonant fare that manages to do what all good fantasy and historical fiction does: shine a light on our world,” remarked Linda Buckley-Archer on the London Guardian Online. Sioned Jacques, a contributor to the School Librarian, asserted: “This novel is an irresistible adventure mystery, where a single lie can be more potent than any truth.”
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Hardinge mixes history and fantasy in A Skinful of Shadows, a coming-of-age story about 13-year-old Makepeace Lightfoot, who, due to her powerful family lineage, is able to harbor the ghost of a dead person inside her body. During the English Civil War in the 17th century, Makepeace is sent to live with her aristocratic father’s family, the Fellmottes, after her mother dies. She is made a kitchen servant in the house, but over the years she acquires more ghosts, each with a different personality, that work with her to bring down the Fellmottes and fight in the war. “Makepeace’s evolving relationships with the ghosts embodied within her are fascinating and moving,” declared a Publishers Weekly reviewer. In Booklist, Julia Smith observed: “Hardinge’s writing is stunning, and readers will be taken hostage by its intensity, fascinating developments, and the fierce, compassionate girl.”
A Face Like Glass, published in the U.K. in 2012 and released in the U.S. in 2017, finds 12-year-old Neverfell an apprentice to the cheesemaker in the underground city of Caverna, composed of a labyrinth of tunnels and ruled by corrupt nobles. Everyone here wears a blank face devoid of emotion. Crafts people can make faces that teach people to express joy or fear. But Neverfell is different, and therefore a threat, because she alone reveals her every thought and emotion on her face at all times. A Kirkus Reviews writer praised the many detailed characters, adding: “Madcap, mysterious, magical, and meaty… this may cause visions—or just make your head explode (with delight).” With enthusiasm for language, Hardinge “suggests how fundamental to human interaction our facial expressions are,” according to Dierdre F. Baker in Horn Book.
Set in the island chain of the Myriad, Deeplight blends fantasy, swashbuckling adventure, and coming-of-age. Fifty years ago, the terrible and destructive gods fought one another and tore each other apart, with pieces of their bodies, called godware, falling into the ocean and possessing remarkable power. Fifteen-year-old orphan Hark and his best, but manipulative, friend Jelt eke out a living diving for godware and selling it. When one of Jelt’s schemes backfires and he almost drowns, Hark finds a still beating godware heart to save Jelt, but it turns Jelt into a monster, testing Hark’s loyalty. According to Emily Bearn in Daily Telegraph, Hardinge “untangles her complex story in clear, suspenseful chapters, and contains her every flight of fancy within a rigid plot.” A Kirkus Reviews critic noted: “The many pleasures of this tale include a range of extraordinary female characters and sensitive and respectful depictions of deaf people.”
Hardinge’s middle-grade fantasy, Island of Whispers, illustrated by Emily Gravett, is a heartwarming story of grief, family, and letting go. On the island of Merlack, the spirits of the dead are ferried to the island of the Broken Tower where they can move on. Milo’s father, the Ferryman, is killed by the Lord of Merlock, who refuses to let his dead teenage daughter’s spirit go. Milo assumes the role of Ferryman, and is chased across the sea by the Lord and his magicians wanting his daughter’s spirit back. Hardinge’s elusive and poignant story depicts “the sorrow of endings, the significance of last messages, and the inexorability of mortality,” according to Deirdre F. Baker in Horn Book. In this deftly told, bittersweet story, “Hardinge treads a delicate line between horror and hope,” noted a contributor to Kirkus Reviews.
Island of Whispers was inspired by the Greek myth of the ferryman, Charon, who carried souls to the world of the dead. Hardinge explained to Jennifer Robinson at Oxford Student the importance of folktales and myths today: “When we hear an old folktale, there’s something about it that still tugs at our emotions and imagination. Some are ways of talking about forbidden feelings. … these are stories that shapeshift. It’s in their nature to change a little with each storyteller, so that new audiences can find fresh meanings in them.”
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BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Booklist, August 1, 2006, Jennifer Mattson, review of Fly by Night, p. 65; May 15, 2008, Carolyn Phelan, review of Well Witched, p. 60; May 15, 2009, Krista Hutley, review of The Lost Conspiracy, p. 48; March 15, 2011, Melissa Moore, review of Fly Trap, p. 60; April 1, 2015, Krista Hutley, review of Cuckoo Song, p. 64; October 15, 2017, Julia Smith, review of A Skinful of Shadows, p. 53.
BookPage, May, 2015, Diane Colson, review of Cuckoo Song, p. 27; January 2023, Tami Orendain, review of Unraveller, p. 28.
Bookseller, August 19, 2005, Caroline Horn, “Globetrotter Conquers the Book World,” author interview, p. 17.
Daily Telegraph, November 2019, Emily Bearn, review of Deeplight, p. 29.
Guardian (London, England), January 14, 2006, Jan Mark, review of Fly by Night; September 5, 2006, Alice Wignall, “My Favourite Lesson: Frances Hardinge Acquired a Lasting Love of Literature at School,” p. 6; February 28, 2009, Patric Ness, review of Gullstruck Island; October 30, 2019, Imogen Russell Williams, review of Deeplight.
Horn Book, July 1, 2008, Deirdre F. Baker, review of Well Witched; September-October, 2009, Deirdre F. Baker, review of The Lost Conspiracy; May-June, 2011, Jonathan Hunt, review of Fly Trap, p. 91; May-June, 2015, Sarah Berman, review of Cuckoo Song, p. 109; March-April 2017, Deirdre F. Baker, review of A Face Like Glass, p. 89; March-April 2020, Deirdre F. Baker, review of Deeplight, p. 82; July-August 2024, Deirdre F. Baker, review of Island of Whispers, p. 127.
Kirkus Reviews, May 15, 2008, review of Well Witched; August 15, 2009, review of The Lost Conspiracy; April 1, 2011, review of Fly Trap; February 15, 2015, review of Cuckoo Song; October 15, 2017, review of A Skinful of Shadows; March 1, 2017, review of A Face Like Glass; February 1, 2020, review of Deeplight; October 15, 2022, review of Unraveller; January-February 2023, Anita L. Burkham, review of Unraveller, p. 84; June 15, 2024, review of Island of Whispers.
Magpies, March, 2007, Maureen Mann, review of Fly by Night, p. 37.
Publishers Weekly, May 8, 2006, review of Fly by Night, p. 66; June 16, 2008, review of Well Witched, p. 48; September 7, 2009, review of The Lost Conspiracy, p. 47; April 4, 2011, review of Fly Trap, p. 53; March 30, 2015, review of Cuckoo Song, p. 77; December 4, 2017, review of A Skinful of Shadows, p. S108; March 6, 2017, review of A Face Like Glass, p. 63.
School Librarian, autumn, 2014, Joy Court, review of Cuckoo Song, p. 182; summer, 2015, Sioned Jacques, review of The Lie Tree, p. 117; March 2017, Luann Toth, review of A Face Like Glass, p. 136, January 2023, Allie Stevens, review of Unraveller, p. 73.
School Library Journal, July, 2006, Steven Engelfried, review of Fly by Night, p. 104; August 1, 2008, Eva Mitnick, review of Well Witched, p. 120; September, 2009, Carolyn Lehman, review of The Lost Conspiracy, p. 161; October, 2009, Rick Margolis, “The Lady in Black: Frances Hardinge on Her Latest Novel, The Lost Conspiracy,” author interview, p. 24.
Sunday Times (London, England), July, 2006, Steven Engelfried, review of Verdigris Deep, p. 104; January 4, 2009, Nicolette Jones, review of Gullstruck Island.
Times Educational Supplement, December 23, 2005, Elaine Williams, review of Fly by Night, p. 25; July 27, 2007, Nicholas Tucker, review of Verdigris Deep, p. 28.
Voice of Youth Advocates, June, 2011, Tanya Paglia, review of Fly Trap, p. 185; February, 2015, Etienne Vallee, Emily Ulm, and Brittney Delaney, review of Cuckoo Song, p. 76.
ONLINE
Armadillo Online, http://www.siliconhenge.com/armadillo/ (June 25, 2009), Rhiannon Lassiter, interview with Hardinge.
Bookbag, http://www.thebookbag.co.uk/ (June 8, 2009), Jill Murphy, review of Gullstruck Island.
Branford Boase Award Web site, http://www.branfordboaseaward.org.uk/ (March 1, 2008), “Branford Boase Award 2006.”
Collected Miscellany Web site, http://collectedmiscellany.com/ (July 25, 2006), Kevin Holtsberry, “Ten Questions with Frances Hardinge.”
Frances Hardinge Home Page, http://www.franceshardinge.com (December 8, 2015).
Guardian Online, http://www.theguardian.com/ (June 27, 2015), Linda Buckley-Archer, review of The Lie Tree.
KidsReads.com, http://www.kidsreads.com/ (August 21, 2010), review of The Lost Conspiracy.
Oxford Student, https://www.oxfordstudent.com/ (November 20, 2023), Jennifer Robinson, “An Interview with Frances Hardige.”
Strange Horizons Web site, http://www.strangehorizons.com/ (April 26, 2006), Donna Royston, review of Fly by Night; (July 11, 2007), Farah Mendlesohn, review of Verdigris Deep; (June 8, 2009), Farah Mendlesohn, review of Gullstruck Island; (June 23, 2014), Tom Pollock, “Endings Are Never Completely Endings: An Interview with Frances Hardinge.”
Telegraph Online, http://www.telegraph.co.uk/ (July 14, 2014), Martin Chilton, review of Cuckoo Song.
The Observatory
Frances' biography
Frances Hardinge is a writer who wears a black hat. Notoriously unphotographable, she is rumoured to be made entirely out of velvet. Sources close to Frances who prefer not to be named suggest that she has an Evil Twin who wears white and is hatless. This cannot be confirmed.
Frances grew up in an old house in rural Kent, England where the wind wuthered. She has always liked dark stories – when she was six, she wrote a short story that included an attempted poisoning, a faked death and a villain being thrown off a cliff – all in just one page! Later she read English at Oxford University amid medieval towers and gargoyle-strung chapels.
Frances had been writing ever since she as a child, but for years she only submitted short stories for publication. Eventually her friend, the author Rhiannon Lassiter, stole her novel and gave it to an editor at Macmillan. Frances was swiftly contracted to write the novel, Fly By Night, which was published to rave reviews. She later signed a three-book deal which enabled her to write full time.
Frances was the 2006 winner of the Branford Boase award and was also shortlisted for the Guardian Children's Fiction prize and the William Crawford award among others. In 2007 her second book, Verdigris Deep / Well Witched , a stand-alone novel with a modern setting, was published to high acclaim, and chosen as one of School Library Journal's Best Children's Books of 2008.
In 2009 her third novel was published as Gullstruck Island in the UK and The Lost Conspiracy in the US. It reached the finals of the Young Adult Category for the Los Angeles Times Book Award, and was also a finalist for the School Library Journal's Battle of the Books.
2011 saw the publication of her long-awaited sequel to Fly by Night, released as Twilight Robbery in the UK and as Fly Trap in the US. It was shortlisted for the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize, was longlisted for the CILIP Carnegie Medal, and was one of the New York Public Library's 100 Titles for Reading and Sharing.
Her fifth book, published in May 2012, was A Face Like Glass, a stand-alone tale of deception, cheese-making, betrayal and strategic amnesia. It was longlisted for the Carnegie Medal and for the UK Literary Association Book Award 2013, as well as being voted one of the Top 100 Best Ever UKYA Novels.
In October 2012 her short story 'Payment Due' was published in Under My Hat: Tales from the Cauldron, a collection of eighteen witch-themed tales by authors such as Neil Gaiman, Garth Nix, Holly Black and Tanith Lee. In September 2013, another short story by Frances appeared in Twisted Winter, a collection of eerie winter tales. Frances' story is titled 'Flawless', and appeared alongside work by Susan Cooper, Catherine Butler, Rhiannon Lassiter, Liz Williams, Frances Thomas and Katherine Langrish.
Her sixth book, Cuckoo Song, was released in May 2014. This changeling tale set in the 1920s won the prestigious Robert Holdstock Award for Best Novel at the British Fantasy Awards 2015. It was featured in The Sunday Times as their Children's Book of the Week, and was selected for the Booktrust Best Book Guide 2014 (12–14 years category). It was also chosen as one of the Sunday Times 100 Modern Children's Classics, and has been shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal, the James Herbert Award, and the British Science Fiction Association's Best Novel Award.
Frances's seventh book, The Lie Tree, is a Victorian murder mystery. It won the prestigious Costa Book of the Year 2015 award, and the 2016 Boston Globe / Horn Book Fiction Award, as well as the UKLA Book Awards (12–16 years category) and the LA Times Book Award for Young Adult Literature. The Spanish edition of the illustrated version of The Lie Tree, published by Editoral Bambú, won the Kelvin Award for the best Young Adult novel translated into Spanish. The Hebrew edition (Utz) won the Fantastic Library's Golden Griffin Award for best fantasy novel in 2017. It has also been shortlisted for the Independent Booksellers Week Award 2015, the 2016 Carnegie Medal, and the YA Book Prize; and longlisted for the Guardian Children's Fiction prize 2015! The Italian edition published by Mondadori was shortlisted for the Premio Strega Ragazze e Ragazzi, 11+ category.
A Skinful of Shadows, a macabre ghostly thriller set during the English Civil War, was published in 2017. It won the Dracula Society's Children of the Night Award for Gothic fiction; and it has been shortlisted for the Waterstones Book of the Year, the Independent Booksellers' Week Book Award (children's category), the Calderdale Book of the Year award, the Young Adult category of the Locus Awards and the WSFS Young Adult Book Award.
On June 14th 2018, Frances became a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. She was permitted to sign her name in the huge, old, red-and-gold Roll Book using George Eliot's dip pen. This was all highly exciting, and she still can't quite believe it really happened.
2019 saw the publication of Deeplight, a dark fantasy featured terrifying deep sea gods, screaming submarines, a dangerous ancient relic, and a poisoned friendship. The book was shortlisted for the Lodestar Award and the YA Book Prize 2020.
Frances's tenth book Unraveller, a story of curses, consequences, misty marsh-woods, and man-eating horses, was published in 2022. A few months later, it won the 'Best Book for Younger Readers' category of the British Science Fiction Awards.
September 2023 saw the publication of Island of Whispers, a collaboration between Frances and the wonderful (and double Kate-Greenaway-Medal-winning) illustrator Emily Gravett. It is a gothic fairytale ghost story sea adventure, enriched by atmospheric illustrations in black, white and stormy blue.
Listen to a podcast Frances made, which includes a reading from Chapter 5 of Verdigris Deep / Well Witched!
You can send a message to Frances by clicking here.
If you'd like copies of high-resolution photos of Frances for press or other purposes, please contact her here.
20th November 2023
An Interview with Frances Hardinge
Jennifer Robinson
Frances Hardinge, acclaimed author of many bestselling books, such as Cuckoo Song, A Skinful of Shadows and The Lie Tree, has recently launched her latest book, Island of Whispers. The tale is inspired by Greek mythology, specifically the figure of the ferryman, Charon; however, as is often the case with Hardinge’s work, she brings a unique twist. Rather than an immortal being, the new ferryman Milo is human and must travel with the Dead to the Island of the Broken Tower, facing many difficulties along the way.
I was given the wonderful opportunity of quizzing Frances about her new book, writing inspirations and her working life.
A lot of your books have historical ties, even if they sometimes have more fantastical settings. As an Oxford alumnus, did the history of Oxford, or indeed the historical approach of the English course, have any bearing on this approach?
To be honest, I was hooked on history and historical fiction long before I came to Oxford. Leon Garfield’s historical adventures for children had a big effect on me. I read Smith when I was eleven, then devoured every other Garfield book I could find. I also loved ‘timeslip’ fantasy books like Ruth Park’s Playing Beatie Bow and Penelope Farmer’s Charlotte Sometimes, and by the time I was in my early teens I was enjoying classic Victorian novels.
Having said that, I’m sure that the historical approach of the Oxford English course enriched my understanding of different periods. Also, my Master of Studies course touched on the Company of Stationers, the development of copyright and some of the history of the printing press, providing details that I incorporated into my first novel Fly by Night. As for the history of Oxford itself, my eighth novel A Skinful of Shadows includes a brief picture of Oxford during the Civil War.
Something which struck me when I read The Lie Tree was the stifling world of patriarchal Victoriana and the tensions between science and religion, all of which felt very grounded in reality, making the titular lie tree even more mesmerising as a possibility. What inspired you to come up with this fantastical idea? Would you, like Faith, be tempted to use the lie tree?
I’ve been asked before how I came up with the idea of The Lie Tree. The short and accurate answer is, I can’t quite remember. I know exactly when and where the idea hit me, since it was during a long walk by the Thames. In fact, I stopped halfway across the bridge at Richmond loch, because I knew I had come up with the seed (if you’ll pardon the pun) of a story. It was the concept of the lie tree itself, which could be fed lies so that it would bear fruit containing an important secret. I can’t remember the train of thought that led to this, though!
At first I had no idea what to do with this concept. I considered using it in an imaginary, fantastical setting, and even devised a few, but in that context the idea didn’t have much power. It was just a fragment of weirdness rattling around loose in a weird setting. It was only when my editor said that she would welcome another historical fantasy that I began to consider period settings for my lie-munching tree. As soon as I thought about the Victorian period, the idea ‘took root’. This was an age of lies and secrets, a time when scientists were uncovering the secrets of the universe, and when faith of all sorts stood on shaky ground. This was where my tree belonged.
Unlike Faith, I don’t think I’d be tempted to use the lie tree. We’re already living in an age of misinformation, disinformation and alternative facts. I don’t think the world needs any more deception added to the mix.
Religion (be it the mythical faith system in Fly by Night, the classical mythology of Island of Whispers, or the oppressive Christianity of The Lie Tree) seems to be a recurring interest in your work. What is it about religion as a theme that makes you keep coming back from different perspectives?
I’m always interested in people, in what they believe and why. As a species, we’re always looking for ways to understand the cosmos, and also ways to cope with it. Like most other aspects of human nature, faith isn’t inherently good or bad. It all depends on where faith is placed, and the behaviour that results from it.
I love the fairy tale style of Island of Whispers, with its eclectic cast of characters and richly atmospheric settings. What inspired you to adopt this fairy tale style – did it feel fitting for the classical mythology you were using as a springing off point?
Some stories ‘want’ to be written a certain way. I don’t remember ‘deciding’ to use a fairy tale style, it was clearly just the way the story wanted to be written. It felt natural.
What do you think illustrations add to a text? Island of Whispers is full of gorgeous illustrations by the award-winning Emily Gravett, and notably The Lie Tree has a special illustrated edition by the incredible Chris Riddell. Does it ever feel like your vision is being lost, or enhanced by the collaborative process between author and artist?
I certainly never felt that my vision was being lost, quite the reverse! In both cases, it was magical discovering how my scenes, characters and settings looked in the mind’s eye of a very talented illustrator.
In the case of The Lie Tree, the book was already finished and published by the time Chris Riddell kindly agreed to create pictures for an illustrated version. (I actually have his illustration of Faith riding the dinosaur framed on my wall.)
The Island of Whispers was a different arrangement, since from the very beginning it was written for illustration. While the first draft was written in full before the illustrations were created, the text was sometimes adjusted in order to fit better with Emily’s wonderful images, so it felt more like a collaborative process. It was an absolute joy, and seeing Emily’s pictures arrive in my inbox felt like a series of mini-Christmases. Her pictures are beautiful, and she has exquisite judgement when it comes to deciding what to draw, and how to draw it, in order to add emotional depth. There’s a series of pictures at the end that nearly made me cry, despite the fact that I’d written the story!
In several of your books you pull from folklore, such as the changeling tale that is cleverly subverted in Cuckoo Song by having the invasive changeling be the protagonist of the novel. Similarly, Island of Whispers puts a new spin on the legends of Charon through the ferryman being mortal himself. How do you think folklore and myth are still relevant in the modern day? Which of all the various folktales and legends still sticks with you, that you still feel is important to come back to and relearn?
Folktales are the stories that persist whether they’re approved of or not. They thrive like weeds, spreading and adapting and pushing up in unexpected places. They have vigour and life, a rawness and forbidden energy. Like dandelions they thrust up through cracks in a modern pavement, the way they once found purchase in medieval pastures. Are dandelions ‘relevant’? Are they ‘important’? I don’t think they care. They just carry on anyway, timeless, thriving and disobedient.
When we hear an old folktale, there’s something about it that still tugs at our emotions and imagination. Some are ways of talking about forbidden feelings. Others provide vivid pictures of peril, misfortune and injustice. Yet others show us the soul of a landscape or place, by filling it with strangeness or supernatural creatures. Furthermore, these are stories that shapeshift. It’s in their nature to change a little with each storyteller, so that new audiences can find fresh meanings in them.
In my case, I’m always particularly fascinated by folktales that are tied to a particular place. The tale and the landscape have a symbiotic relationship, lending each other psychological power. That lonely path twisting across a twilit Suffolk field looks very different when you remember tales of Black Shuck the gigantic demon dog prowling in just such places…
Alongside your many award-winning novels, you have written lots of short stories. How do you decide what form a tale is going to take?
Again, I find that story ideas ‘want’ to be a certain length. Occasionally I get in a battle of wills with a story, and try to persuade it be a different length than it thinks it should be. I very seldom win these battles. It seems I’m quite good at coming up with ideas that suit 4000, 12,000 or 120,000 words. I find it much harder to form concepts that want to be 2000 or 80,000 words.
What is your writing process, and does it differ much depending on the book you are writing?
I’m one of life’s planners. Before I start to write I do a lot of research, plan out the main storyline and the personal arcs of the main characters. Sometimes while I’m writing I come up with other, better ideas, and end up deviating from my plan, but it still really helps to have that framework.
Some books require more research than others. Three of my books are historical fantasy, and those required a lot of extra research into everyday details. When I’m using an actual historical setting, I can be ‘wrong’ in a way that I can’t when creating a fantastical world from the ground up.
What was your experience getting started on your publishing journey? How has it changed now that you are a more established author?
I first started sending off short stories to magazines when I was sixteen, and received piles of rejections. I was in my twenties before I had a few accepted, and won a couple of short story competitions. Back then I found out about most of these magazines and competitions through the magazines Writers’ News and Writing. I wrote continually and obsessively back then, producing lots of short stories and several abortive novels, and also churning out huge amounts of text for online shared narrative games. Eventually a good friend named Rhiannon Lassiter persuaded me to try writing a children’s book, and when I had written five chapters she urged me to show them to an editor. When I proved reluctant, she took matters into her own hands, and took my chapters to an editor! A week later, to my colossal surprise, I had a book contract. As you can imagine, I’m very grateful to Rhiannon!
Needless to say, this was decades ago, and the publishing world has changed since then. The internet and digital magazines have come into their own, self-publishing has become easier and more widely accepted, etc.
Macmillan Children’s Books signed a contract with me for my first book, and I’ve stayed with them ever since. They’ve treated me well, and have been very broad-minded when faced by my rather eccentric book concepts! It’s nice having a publishing ‘home’, and editors with whom I can have long term professional relationships. Writing is always a precarious profession, and there are few financial guarantees, but I’ve been luckier than most.
Finally, what advice would you give to budding writers at Oxford?
Here are the tips I usually give young writers: https://www.panmacmillan.com/blogs/young-adult/frances-hardinge-s-top-10-writing-tips. Also, don’t be afraid of writing rubbish. Take risks, try things that don’t work, write when you don’t feel like it, and don’t give up even if you’re not happy with the result. The more you write, the more you learn about your craft. No writing is wasted. Also, no writing is ever perfect. Don’t hide your work away from the world because it’s not flawless yet. It never will be.
Featured Image Credit: Island of Whispers cover, illustrated by Emily Gravett. Photo of Frances by Urszula Soltys.
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Frances Hardinge
Born 1973 (age 50–51)
Brighton, East Sussex, England
Occupation Novelist
Nationality British
Genre Young adult fiction
Notable works
Fly By Night
Cuckoo Song
The Lie Tree
Notable awards
Branford Boase Award
2006 Fly By Night
Robert Holdstock Award
2015 Cuckoo Song
Costa Book Awards
2015 The Lie Tree
Website
www.franceshardinge.com
Frances Hardinge (born 1973) is a British children's writer. Her debut novel, Fly by Night, won the 2006 Branford Boase Award and was listed as one of the School Library Journal Best Books. She has also been shortlisted for and received a number of other awards for both her novels as well as some of her short stories.
Early life and education
Hardinge was born in 1973 in Brighton, England, and dreamed of writing at the age of four. She studied English at Somerville College, Oxford and was the founder member of a writers' workshop there.[1][2]
Career
Her writing career started after she won a short story magazine competition. Shortly after winning she wrote her debut novel, Fly by Night, in her spare time and showed it to Macmillan Publishers after pressure from a friend.[1][2] It was published in 2005, and was listed as one of the School Library Journal Best Books and won the Branford Boase Award.[3][4][5] Her 2015 novel The Lie Tree won the 2015 Costa Book Award Book of the Year, the only children's book to do so besides Philip Pullman's The Amber Spyglass in 2001.[6]
Personal life
Hardinge is often seen wearing a black hat and enjoys dressing in old-fashioned clothing.[1][2]
Awards and honours
Year Title Award Category Result Ref
2006 Fly by Night Branford Boase Award — Won
2011 Twilight Robbery Guardian Children's Fiction Prize — Shortlisted
2012 A Face Like Glass Kitschies Red Tentacle Shortlisted
2015 Cuckoo Song British Fantasy Award Robert Holdstock Award Won [7]
Carnegie Medal — Shortlisted
The Lie Tree Costa Book Awards Book of the Year Won [8]
Children's Won [9][10]
2016 Boston Globe–Horn Book Award Fiction Won [11]
Carnegie Medal — Shortlisted
2021 Honkaku Mystery of the Decade Translated Honkaku Mystery of the Decade – 2010s Shortlisted
Works
Novels
Fly by Night (2005)
Verdigris Deep (2007); US title, Well Witched
Gullstruck Island (2009); US title, The Lost Conspiracy
Twilight Robbery (2011); US title, Fly Trap – sequel to Fly by Night
A Face Like Glass (2012)
Cuckoo Song (2014)
The Lie Tree (2015)
A Skinful of Shadows (September 2017)
Deeplight (October 2019)
Unraveller (September 2022)
Island of Whispers (2023)[12]
Short fiction
Hardinge has written several short stories published in magazines and anthologies.[13][14]
"Shining Man", The Dream Zone 8 (Jan 2001)
"Communion", Wordplay 1 (Spring 2002)
"Captive Audience", Piffle 7 (Oct 2002)
"Bengal Rose", Scribble 20 (Spring 2003)
"Black Grass", All Hallows 43 (Summer 2007)
"Halfway House", Alchemy 3 (Jan 2006)
"Behind The Mirror", serialised in First News (2007)
"Payment Due", in Under My Hat: Tales from the Cauldron, ed. Jonathan Strahan (Random House, 2012)
"Flawless", in Twisted Winter, ed. Catherine Butler (Black, 2013)
"Hayfever", Subterranean, Winter 2014 (Dec 2013)
"Blind Eye", The Outcast Hours, ed. Mahvesh Murad and Jared Shurin (Solaris, 2019)
"God's Eye", in Mystery & Mayhem, (Egmont Publishing, 2016)
Hardinge, Frances ISLAND OF WHISPERS Amulet/Abrams (Children's None) $19.99 8, 27 ISBN: 9781419774331
What happens when an unlikely hero must transport the Dead to their final destination?
Fourteen-year-old Milo's not cut out to work with dead people, or so his father is quick to tell him. Though his dad is the Ferryman, entrusted with taking the newly deceased by ship from their island, Merlank, to the Island of the Broken Towers, where they can move on, Milo lacks the right disposition. But right or not, that's precisely what he'll have to do when his father is slain by a man working for the Lord of Merlank, who's desperate to keep his daughter in the land of the living. What follows is a chase across the sea. In the front is Milo, piloting his father's ship, the Evening Mare, and trying to remember all the rules involved in this voyage. In hot pursuit are the lord and his magicians, all attempting to keep one dead girl from leaving. Hardinge treads a delicate line between horror and hope. Milo's abilities shine through his doubts, even as he faces trial after trial. The result is part fairy tale, part contemplation of life, death, grief, and the comfort that comes when others listen. Accompanying Hardinge's poignant prose, Gravett's pen-and-ink art taps perfectly into the book's tone, highlighting moments both big and infinitesimally small. Most characters have skin the white of the page.
A deftly told, bittersweet story of loved ones lost and remembered, tinged with hope and courage. (Fantasy. 7-12)
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2024 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
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"Hardinge, Frances: ISLAND OF WHISPERS." Kirkus Reviews, 15 June 2024, p. NA. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A797463217/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=1773d69e. Accessed 26 Sept. 2024.
* Island of Whispers
by Frances Hardinge; illus. by Emily Gravett
Intermediate, Middle School Amulet/Abrams 120 pp.
8/24 9781419774331 $19.99
e-book ed. 9798887073118 $17.99
Milo's father has a vital role to play on the island of Merlank: he's the Ferryman, responsible for transporting the Dead to a place where their spirits are free to depart, no longer hampered by Merlank's clingy mist. Otherwise, the Dead would linger, blighting the land and killing others with their fatal gaze. Thus, when the grieving Lord of Merlank causes Milo's father's death, Milo must become the Ferryman and sail the Evening Mare, despite what his father always deemed the dangers of Milo's sympathetic, imaginative spirit. Don't listen to them; don't look at them, was his father's self- protective way with the Dead. But when the Lord's daughter writes a poem on the deck, desperate for her words to go on living despite her early demise, Milo realizes that listening, recording, and sharing can also be part of the Ferryman's job. Gravett's spectacularly misty, atmospheric illustrations, all in shades of indigo, heighten what is most elusive and poignant about Hardinge's story--the sorrow of endings, the significance of last messages, and the inexorability of mortality. Hardinge's own poetic language (most clearly visible in the girl's poem: "The gnats sing the sun to sleep / Over the lake the air cools / Twinned birds fly through two pink skies") brings multiple shimmering layers to both plot and imagery in this melancholic, fantastical tale.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2024 A wholly owned subsidiary of Media Sources, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
http://www.hbook.com/magazine/default.asp
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Baker, Deirdre F. "Island of Whispers." The Horn Book Magazine, vol. 100, no. 4, July-Aug. 2024, p. 127. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A803844868/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=13890a72. Accessed 26 Sept. 2024.
By Frances Hardinge
Fantasy
The people of Raddith are used to living with magic. The country bustles with business, bureaucracy and other hallmarks of humanity, but around its edges are whispers of curses--dangerous magic spawned from intense negative emotion. Kellen, an unraveller with the rare ability to undo these curses, and Nettle, his stoic companion with a hidden past, make a meager living catching cursers and helping those they've cursed. After an old enemy threatens revenge against Kellen for unraveling her curse and leading to her imprisonment, Kellen and Nettle stumble into a mystery that challenges everything they know about Raddith, magic and their friendship.
In Unraveller (Amulet, $19.99, 9781419759314), acclaimed author Frances Hardinge creates two settings that both feel fantastical and yet also familiar: Raddith, the land of humans, and the Wilds, the marshy woods where magic thrives. The novel features otherworldly creatures such as spell-weaving Little Brothers, which are "not spiders, however much they look like them," terrifying bog spirits and more, but Hardinge also depicts how humans coexist with such creatures. The humans in Raddith see them as a source of power, while people in the Wilds treat them with respect, even reverence. The novel's unique magic system reflects this intertwining of the mundane and the marvelous as well: Strange, unpredictable curses that transform people into animals or steal their shadows stem from pent-up human emotions like resentment, anger and hatred.
This emotion-fueled magic system places character development at the forefront of Unraveller. Nettle seems calm and collected, but she actually struggles to express how she feels, while Kellen understands the importance of communication but flees as soon as a curse is lifted, not realizing that true healing takes time. Their personalities clash and complement each other throughout the book, demonstrating how growth and friendship aren't linear--but are rewarding.
Hardinge isn't afraid to challenge her readers to rethink their perceptions of hatred and healing, and she does so by venturing into some of the darkest aspects of human guilt, shame and anger. Almost every member of the novel's large cast must learn to deal with complicated emotions, whether they're cursers or cursed, from minor villagers to Kellen and Nettle's most trusted allies. Some characters fall prey to their feelings, while others open up, forgive and change their ways.
Unraveller is a multilayered, challenging and unflinching read, with occasional depictions of gore and body horror that may unsettle some readers. It poses a difficult but deeply necessary question: What does it mean to truly heal and be healed?
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2023 BookPage
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Orendain, Tami. "Unraveller." BookPage, Jan. 2023, p. 28. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A729987540/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=ef7d1625. Accessed 26 Sept. 2024.
HARDINGE, Frances, Unraveller. 432p. Abrams/Amulet. Jan. 2023. Tr $19.99. ISBN 9781419759314.
Gr 7 Up--In the land of Raddith, anger and hate left to fester in a person's heart form a "curse egg" and those who carry curse eggs can wreak havoc on the lives of those around them. Everyone who isn't a curser is vulnerable to being cursed for real or imagined slights; every interaction with a stranger can turn dangerous quickly. Kellen, who possesses a mysterious ability to "unravel" these curses by finding their source and cause, and his companion Nettle, a girl who was cursed to be a heron until Kellen saved her, are hired to unravel a very specific curse by a strange marsh horseman named Gall. However, as they traverse the curse-ridden and creature-filled woods known as the Wilds, it becomes increasingly clear that whatever has given Kellen the power to unravel curses must be reversed before he unravels himself and everyone else. Characteristically lush and transportive descriptions accompany a rapidly paced, consistently suspenseful plot, keeping readers firmly planted in the land of Raddith from beginning to end. Hardinge again displays her knack for imbuing mythological-feeling tales with casts of creatures and characters who are fully realized and impeccably described, rendered in astonishing detail while carefully avoiding verbosity. Introspective realizations, the processing of uncomfortable feelings, and the importance of knowing and understanding oneself are continual throughlines in the narrative, along with the insidious effects of allowing fury and hate to grow unchecked. VERDICT Another deeply atmospheric, compulsively readable yet utterly unsettling offering from Hardinge. Highly recommended for all libraries serving teens.--Allie Stevens
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2023 A wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/
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Stevens, Allie. "HARDINGE, Frances, Unraveller." School Library Journal, vol. 69, no. 1, Jan. 2023, p. 73. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A732326538/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=abea36fc. Accessed 26 Sept. 2024.
Hardinge, Frances UNRAVELLER Amulet/Abrams (Teen None) $19.99 1, 10 ISBN: 978-1-4197-5931-4
In a land where curses are real and binding, a young weaver discovers that teasing them apart is wrapped in unexpected consequences.
Hardinge has a rare gift for crafting strange and original worlds, and here she's in top form as she chucks two teenagers into webs of deadly magic and conspiracy in Raddith, where curse eggs are illegal but readily available to be cast by anyone out of spite or hatred. The journey takes rude, ill-tempered Kellen, whose unique talent for unravelling affects not only curses, but any woven garment or item in his vicinity, and his constant (in every sense) companion Nettle, seemingly "meek and inoffensive if you didn't know her," from the populous capital of Mizzleport to swampy wilds haunted by terrifying creatures to eldritch Moonlit Market (where everything, including memories and daydreams, is vulnerable). The author gradually brings Kellen (and readers) to an understanding that curses are not always undeserved, that those who bestow them may be damaged but are not invariably evil, and that perhaps we all have the capability to control the hatred that fuels them. Along with weaving in frequent desperate straits and near brushes with disaster, she embroiders her tale with memorable lines; a romantic subplot involving a rider bonded to a demonic horse and, by the end, even more so to his loving husband; and a cast of characters who are memorably distinct. The cast presents White.
Brightening toward the end, frightening throughout, psychologically acute. (Fantasy. 12-18)
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2022 Kirkus Media LLC
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"Hardinge, Frances: UNRAVELLER." Kirkus Reviews, 15 Oct. 2022, p. NA. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A721918172/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=fdadfa65. Accessed 26 Sept. 2024.
Unraveller
by Frances Hardinge
Middle School, High School Amulet/Abrams 432 pp.
1/23 9781509836970 $19.99
e-book ed. 9781647005627 $15.54
In a magical land where anger grows like an egg inside certain people until it bursts into a destructive curse, quick-tempered Kellen has a special talent: through persistent sleuthing and his own lively intuition, he can "unravel" the anger and undo the curse. Nettle, who was a heron before Kellen unraveled her stepmother's curse and restored her humanity, is Kellen's opposite, reserved to a fault and inclined to think twice before acting. The teens are bailed out of jail by dangerous-seeming marsh horseman Gall, which sets off a cascade of adventures. Gall's employer wants them to investigate the Red Hospital where cursers are held captive; when they find that one of the cursers has been replaced by an innocent person, it's off to the spirit-infested Wilds to follow one clue after another. As revelation builds upon revelation, Kellen and Nettle are drawn in both by their own curiosity and by what appears to be a conspiracy: someone is gathering cursers and turning their spite against political targets, and Gall's shadowy employer seems to be in their crosshairs. Hardinge (A Skinful of Shadows, rev. 1/18; Deeplight, rev. 3/20) creates a top-notch fantasy with a fresh setting populated by original monsters (Bookbearers, Gladelords, Dancing Stars) and the feel of old folktales. But it's Kellen's wild charisma and Nettle's extreme interiority that will beguile readers, even as the tale's air of mystery continuously deepens.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2023 A wholly owned subsidiary of Media Sources, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
http://www.hbook.com/magazine/default.asp
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Burkam, Anita L. "Unraveller." The Horn Book Magazine, vol. 99, no. 1, Jan.-Feb. 2023, p. 84. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A735604697/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=bdc491ce. Accessed 26 Sept. 2024.
The Costa-winning children's writer Frances Hardinge is known for the fascinating strangeness of her settings: The Lie Tree 's stifling Victorian society conceals a plant nourished by deceit, and A Face Like Glass takes place in an underworld where wines can extract memories and perfumes enforce trust. Whether they are wholly invented or rippled glass visions of familiar history, however, her worlds are navigated by characters who stay human to the marrow -- flawed, cowardly, doubtful, determined, unprincipled and brave. This remains true of her latest novel, Deeplight.
In the island chain of the Myriad, gods once rose from the weird waters of the Undersea, ravaging shipping and coastlines, devouring sailors. Razor-mouthed or glass-tentacled, they were a source of fear and reverence -- until one day they turned on one another, and tore each other apart. Now "godware", the powerful detritus of their corpses, is the basis of a thriving economy for those courageous and foolhardy enough to seek it in the depths.
Hardinge's intricately textured world, peopled by smugglers, fanatics and priests, is filled with absorbing detail
On the island of Lady's Crave, 14-year-old Hark scrapes a precarious living scavenging godware with Jelt, his unscrupulous best friend. When one of Jelt's schemes misfires, Hark is left indentured to a scientist, and a new opportunity opens up for him: he might acquire an education, giving him agency, worth and independence. Jelt, though, is unwilling to let him leave, and during another reckless get-rich attempt he almost drowns, prompting Hark to deploy a dangerous artefact to save him, ignorant of what it might unleash.
Hardinge's inimitable prose has the ringing clarity of cut crystal, whether in one-liners ("Hope reared its pitiless head") or unnerving descriptions ("Talking to her was like accepting an invitation to someone's house, only to find that the walls are made of teeth and all the doors lead to the moon"). Her layered, intricately textured world, peopled by smugglers, fanatics and priests, is filled with careful and absorbing detail; many of the Myriad's submariners are "sea-kissed", or deaf, for instance, necessitating a common sign language. The deftly drawn central relationship between Hark and the manipulative Jelt, impossible to refuse or leave behind, is as compelling as the widening, frightening ripple of revealed secrets about the nature of the gods and the reason they died. Like the subject of Ariel's Song in The Tempest, Deeplight is headily "rich and strange" throughout, preoccupied with transmuted forms, the fearsome fascination of the sea, loyalty warring with self-interest, and the human yen to placate and venerate the monstrous.
* Deeplight is published by Macmillan (£12.99). To order a copy go to guardianbookshop.com. Free UK p&p on all online orders over £15.
CAPTION(S):
Credit: Photograph: Frantzesco Kangaris/The Guardian
Frances Hardinge ... her characters 'stay human to the marrow'.
Imogen Russell Williams
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2019 Guardian Newspapers Limited
http://www.guardian.co.uk/theguardian
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"Deeplight by Frances Hardinge review -- a rich and strange island adventure; Loyalties and self-interest collide as two best friends unleash the secrets of the sea gods." Guardian [London, England], 30 Oct. 2019, p. NA. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A604207247/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=f1268d24. Accessed 26 Sept. 2024.
DEEPLIGHT by Frances Hardinge 448pp, Macmillan, PS12.99, ebook PS7.99 Now sit up straight, for here is the much-awaited ninth novel by Frances Hardinge - and she is not the sort of author you read lying in a deck chair with your fist in a box of chocs. Hardinge, who won Costa Book of the Year in 2015 for The Lie Tree, is known for her dense, darkly fantastical plots, and Deeplight is no exception. As she warns the reader in a disclaimer on the title page: "The laws of physics were harmed during the making of this book. In fact, I tortured them into horrific new shapes while cackling."
This assault on physics has produced a highly entertaining book. The hero of the story is Hark, a 14-year-old orphan who lives in the kingdom of Myriad, a cluster of islands that were once inhabited by warring sea gods. "They say that the ocean around the Myriad has its own madness. Sailors tell of great whirlpools that swallow boats, and of reeking, ice-cold jets te hearts of swimmers." When his friend Jelt embarks on a quest to retrieve submerged relics that the gods left behind when they deserted the islands 30 years ago, the line between truth and legend becomes blurred: "They say that a coin-sized scrap of dead god can make your fortune, if the powers it possesses are strange and rare enough, and if you are brave enough to dive for them.'
Even by the standards of young adult fiction, Hardinge's storylines are far out. In Gullstruck Island (2009), birds unravel people's souls; The Lie Tree is a Victorian murder story in which a tree feeds off whispered lies. But she is a deceptively disciplined writer, and here she untangles her complex story in clear, suspenseful chapters, and contains her every flight of fancy within a rigid plot. Hardinge is not always an easy read - but she is a reliably good one.
Emily Bearn
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2019 Daily Telegraph
http://www.telegraph.co.uk
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"I tortured the laws of physics' CHILDREN'S BOOKS; Emily Bearn admires the far-out flights of fancy in Frances Hardinge's new novel." Daily Telegraph [London, England], 2 Nov. 2019, p. 29. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A604519403/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=7b1c7ae4. Accessed 26 Sept. 2024.
Deeplight
by Frances Hardinge
Middle School, High School Amulet/Abrams 423 pp. g 4/20 978-1-4197-4320-7 $19.99
"Human fear has a terrible power," a wise old man tells protagonist Hark. "It changes everything, distorts everything, maddens everything. It is the dark womb where monsters are born and thrive." This explicit (and politically edged) lesson drives the plot of Hardinge's fantasy/horror/action novel, but as one might expect from the author's bounteous imagination (The Lie Tree, rev. 5/16; A Skinful of Shadows, rev. 1/18), it's embedded in a tale of a strange realm. In Hark's island world, the Undersea gods had destroyed one another decades ago. But while diving into the water to rescue his drowning friend, Jelt, Hark discovers the still-beating heart of one of the old deities. The heart keeps Jelt alive--but it also changes him, transforming his already domineering nature into something monstrous and murderous. Caught between Jelt's demands and what he's learned of the gods, Hark must find a way to leave his old allegiances behind, even as he dodges multiple contests for power--rapacious smugglers, a religious sect aiming to resurrect the old gods, and a monastery of cast-aside monks. Rather cumbersome in plot, the story nevertheless provides a great many features of interest: the Undersea's breathable water; sign language as a common parlance (since so many of the island's aquanauts are deaf). DEIRDRE F. BAKER
g indicates that the book was read in galley or page proof. The publisher's price is the suggested retail price and does not indicate a possible discount to libraries. Grade levels are only suggestions; the individual child is the real criterion.
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Baker, Deirdre F. "Deeplight." The Horn Book Magazine, vol. 96, no. 2, Mar.-Apr. 2020, p. 82. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A619398915/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=0450cc08. Accessed 26 Sept. 2024.
Hardinge, Frances DEEPLIGHT Amulet/Abrams (Young Adult Fiction) $19.99 4, 14 ISBN: 978-1-4197-4320-7
Monsters and mortals collide in this fantasy adventure that explores the hypnotic allure of fear, the adamant grip of the past, and the redeeming power of stories.
For centuries, the islanders of the Myriad revered the murderous, terrifying gods who rose from the Undersea. Now, the gods are 30 years gone, and divers who dare to retrieve scraps of their magical remains can make a fortune--if they can get past the governor's men. Fourteen-year-old Hark is an orphan who ekes out a living by spinning tall tales to gullible prospects while dreaming of a brighter future. Hark's best friend, Jelt, has always been his fierce protector. But Jelt is also manipulative, abusive, and dangerous. Just as new possibilities open up for Hark, Jelt coerces him into another reckless scheme in which Jelt nearly drowns. Hark finds a mysterious pulsing relic and uses it to save Jelt, unleashing catastrophic consequences. Hardinge (A Skinful of Shadows, 2017, etc.) conjures up an atmospheric world peopled with sinister smugglers and a stubborn scientist, artful urchins and armed fanatics, ravenous gods and wretched priests. The unhurried opening soon escalates into cinematic action and a thrilling climax. The many pleasures of this tale include a range of extraordinary female characters and sensitive and respectful depictions of deaf people and hearing signers. Humans in this world vary in skin tone, but race has no significance; there are few physical descriptors for the main characters.
Spellbinding. (Fantasy. 12-adult)
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"Hardinge, Frances: DEEPLIGHT." Kirkus Reviews, 1 Feb. 2020, p. NA. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A612619014/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=61764b2d. Accessed 26 Sept. 2024.
HARDINGE, Frances. A Face Like Glass. 496p. ebook available. Abrams/ Amulet. May 2017. Tr $19.95. ISBN 9781419724848.
Gr 5 Up--Neverfell didn't mean to cause a stir when she left Cheesemaster Grandible's tunnels for the first time, nor could she have known that she would become a darling of the court, the target of assassins, a captive of the Kleptomancer, a pawn of the powerbrokers, or a leader of an uprising. She is just a girl trying to figure out who she is and where she came from. Neverfell is an outsider with no memories of her past, living in the underground city of Caverna, which includes an extensive labyrinth of tunnels and is overseen by a decadent and rotting 500-year-old Grand Steward and an equally corrupt and conniving group of ruling families who make up his court. They are led by master craftsmen who supply the upper crust and the outside world with exotic, expensive, and sometimes explosive delicacies. Why would anyone look twice at a young, guileless cheese-maker's apprentice? In a world where nothing is taken at face value and everything is for sale, including facial expressions that various courtiers pay top dollar to acquire, Neverfell's dynamic and always shifting gaze stops people in their tracks and makes her more than an oddity but rather a force to be reckoned with. Hardinge is at the top of her game with this entrancing and action-packed adventure. Her voluptuous prose is full of sensory details and wildly imaginative descriptions, yet the world-building is controlled and gradually revealed. Readers will learn about this caustic and claustrophobic society right along with the protagonist and be highly invested in her struggle. VERDICT A compelling and triumphant follow-up to The Lie Tree for those who love to become immersed in a good story.--Luann Toth, School Library Journal
Toth, Luann
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Toth, Luann. "Hardinge, Frances. A Face Like Glass." School Library Journal, vol. 63, no. 3, Mar. 2017, p. 136. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A484628477/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=e24c4284. Accessed 26 Sept. 2024.
Hardinge, Frances A FACE LIKE GLASS Amulet/Abrams (Children's Fiction) $19.95 5, 10 ISBN: 978-1-4197-2484-8
A new-old book from Hardinge (published in the U.K. in 2012 but only now arriving stateside) balancing wit and wonder with a dose of big thoughts. In an underground world where wines control memories and perfumes ensnare minds, babies don't smile. Expressions are taught; for drudges, only a few Faces, none angry; for members of the Court, hundreds, designed to convey nuanced emotions and hide the truth, taught by celebrated Facesmiths. But 12-year-old Neverfell, white, freckled, red-haired, and taller than almost everyone, is different: her titular face shows her every emotion, uncontrollably, meaning she alone cannot lie. When she runs away from Cheesemaster Grandible, she becomes the pawn of various schemers among the Court and eventually the face of a revolution. Hardinge excels at wordplay and worldbuilding; witty but not trite, her utterly original setting and chaotic, fidgety protagonist anchor a cracking good story that raises important ideas surrounding the nature of friendship, the value of honesty, and the danger of too much, whether luxury, ambition, power, or desire. Each character, however minor, however exaggerated and absurd, leaps fully realized from the page (witness the Kleptomancer, whose thievery is part of a plan he has hidden even from himself). Madcap, mysterious, magical, and meaty: like Grandible's cheeses, this may cause visions--or just make your head explode (with delight). Don't miss it. (Fantasy. 10-adult)
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"Hardinge, Frances: A FACE LIKE GLASS." Kirkus Reviews, 1 Mar. 2017, p. NA. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A482911634/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=93d30b8d. Accessed 26 Sept. 2024.
A Face like Glass
by Frances Hardinge
Middle School, High School Amulet/Abrams 489 pp.
5/17 978-1-4197-2484-8 $19.95 g
In this fantasy (first published in the UK in 2012), Hardinge (The Lie Tree, rev. 5/16) imagines Caverna, an underground city that thrives through its production of magical luxuries: mind-altering cheeses, wines that erase memories with surgical precision, and perfumes that influence attitudes. Perhaps these consciousness-influencing items make up for the inhabitants' shared disability: they're incapable of making facial expressions naturally. Into Cavernas highly artificial court lands apprentice cheese-maker Neverfell, whose unique facial mobility and transparent feelings are so dangerous she must wear a mask. First threatened, then adopted by powerful courtiers, Neverfell penetrates the heart of Cavernas secrets and disrupts its very underpinnings with her plan for social justice ("I want you to help me topple Master Childersin, break hundreds of laws and save as many people as will trust me"). Hardinge's imagination here is--as ever--ebullient, lavish, and original. Whether she's anatomizing expression as fashion accessory, describing the effects of certain wines, or likening human maturation to that of cheeses, she needles into some of our dearest desires and foibles with sharp psychological insight. Her enthusiasm for language play brightens dark Caverna with the sparkle of wit; but most notably, she suggests how fundamental to human interaction our facial expressions are.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2017 A wholly owned subsidiary of Media Sources, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
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Baker, Deirdre F. "A Face like Glass." The Horn Book Magazine, vol. 93, no. 2, Mar.-Apr. 2017, pp. 89+. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A485970959/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=9ab6a78a. Accessed 26 Sept. 2024.
A Face like Glass
Frances Hardinge. Amulet, $19.95 (496p)
ISBN 978-1-4197-2484-8
An amnesiac girl named Neverfell is thrust into court politics she can't begin to understand in this complex, claustrophobic, and deeply compelling novel, originally published in the U.K. in 2012. The citizens of the mazelike underground city of Caverna have turned the production of food and other goods into decadent art, with "wines that rewrote the subtle book of memory, cheeses that brought visions... perfumes that ensnared the mind, and balms that slowed ageing to a crawl." Additionally, no one born in Caverna has the ability to show natural facial expressions, so Facesmiths teach citizens artificial ones with names like "In Contemplation of Verdigris" or "An Ode to Peppermint." Neverfell's face, however, reveals true, unguarded emotion--something terrifyingly alien in Caverna. Hardinge (The hie Tree) has created a world of great affectation and pretense, as well as visceral danger; poisonings and blithely ordered executions are persistent threats. Hardinge's characteristically lush and sophisticated language will entrance readers, and she makes wonderful use of her singular setting and wildly eccentric cast to pose haunting questions about reality, artifice, and the things we attempt to conceal. Ages 14-up. (May)
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2017 PWxyz, LLC
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"A Face like Glass." Publishers Weekly, vol. 264, no. 10, 6 Mar. 2017, p. 63. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A484973725/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=b3d2ede3. Accessed 26 Sept. 2024.
A Skinful of Shadows
Frances Hardinge. Amulet, $19.99 ISBN 978-1-4197-2572-2
As the English Civil War gains momentum, a girl named Makepeace Lightfoot attempts to uncover the shadowy secrets of her family history after her mother is killed. To do so, she travels to Grizehayes, the ancestral home of the father she never knew, where she learns that the aristocratic Fellmottes are able to possess ghosts within them, bringing them preternatural knowledge and strength. Thanks to her Fellmotte lineage, Makepeace comes to harbor several spirits within her, and she takes on as many external personas--servant, spy, medic, prophet--as she attempts to escape (and eventually bring down) the Fellmottes, who see her little more than a vessel. Hardinge, whose The Lie Tree was the 2015 Costa Book of the Year, crafts a delicious combination of historical adventure, coming-of-age tale, and supernatural intrigue, set amid power struggles that reshaped 17th-century England. Makepeace's evolving relationships with the ghosts embodied within her are fascinating and moving (differentiated fonts make these internal conversations easy to follow), highlighting her growing compassion despite being given few reasons to trust anyone in her young life. Ages 13-up.
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"A Skinful of Shadows." Publishers Weekly, vol. 264, no. 49-50, 4 Dec. 2017, p. S108. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A518029914/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=79719026. Accessed 26 Sept. 2024.
A Skinful of Shadows. By Frances Hardinge. Oct. 2017. 432p. Abrams, $19.99 (9781419725722). Gr. 7-12.
In her first novel since The Lie Tree (2016), Hardinge again summons history and fantasy, intermingling them in a most unusual way. Set against a backdrop of the English Civil War, the story opens in a small Puritan village, where a girl named Makepeace wrestles with vivid nightmares. When her mother is accidentally killed, the girl is sent to her father's family, of whom she knows nothing. The Fellmottes, it turns out, are an old aristocratic clan with an insidious secret--they are able to "house" the spirits of the dead, a gift they have twisted, and the inherited cause of Makepeace's clawing nightmares. The narrative opens slowly as Hardinge lays deliberate groundwork and conjures a palpably eerie atmosphere, which mounts in horror as the story progresses. It picks up after Makepeace, now 15, has spent two years as a kitchen girl at the Fellmotte estate, gathering information about the family. The plot becomes populated by spymistresses--whose ranks Makepeace fleetingly joins--and vengeful spirits and is punctuated by her escape attempts and wartime battles. Yet much of the action unfolds in Makepeace's head, as she acquires her own coterie of ghosts, most memorably that of an ill-treated bear. Hardinge's writing is stunning, and readers will be taken hostage by its intensity, fascinating developments, and the fierce, compassionate girl leading the charge.--Julia Smith
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2017 American Library Association
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Smith, Julia. "A Skinful of Shadows." Booklist, vol. 114, no. 4, 15 Oct. 2017, pp. 53+. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A512776226/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=4c520e66. Accessed 26 Sept. 2024.
Hardinge, Frances A SKINFUL OF SHADOWS Amulet/Abrams (Children's Fiction) $19.99 10, 17 ISBN: 978-1-4197-2572-2
In 17th-century England, a girl faces civil unrest, conflicting Christianities, and a family inheritance more horrific than she could have dreamed.
Makepeace has nightmares, so Mother banishes her to an abandoned chapel to practice fighting off the dead people who are trying to enter her mind. Upon Mother's death, Makepeace is sent to the Fellmottes, family of the father she never knew. Grizehayes is a "graceless and vast" house, the wealthy family's "arrogance made stone....proof of their centuries." The Fellmottes treat her as a servant and prevent her escape: they need her as a spare receptacle for generations of family ghosts. But if Makepeace's body inherits the ghosts, her own consciousness may not survive. Doggedly ingenious and stolid, Makepeace grabs every scrap of agency she can find--even when ghosts do share her mind, invited or not, human or beast. She escapes Grizehayes, but the Fellmottes hunt her through city and countryside, through both sides of the unfolding English civil war, through the disguises she keeps changing. Powerlessness, poverty, and integrity are major themes, built on a subtle yet stubborn underlying warmth. Hardinge's plot is both unpredictable and rock-solid, her settings full of smells, her imagery vivid: "A shocked silence pooled like blood." All characters are white and English.
Deliberate, impeccable, and extraordinary. (Historical fantasy. 12-15)
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"Hardinge, Frances: A SKINFUL OF SHADOWS." Kirkus Reviews, 15 Oct. 2017. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A509244154/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=c6aedae9. Accessed 26 Sept. 2024.