I was first introduced to Mary Patterson Thornburg’s work by
my excellent friend, Jenny Twist, so I already knew I was onto a winner. I wasn’t wrong. The author totally captivated me with her
writing in Uncle Bud’s Health Mine and
the Girl Who’s Going to Fix the World and I couldn’t wait to read more from
this exceptionally talented writer.
When I received A
Glimmer of Guile, I got stuck in immediately and lost myself in a new
fictional world. What an adventure. Here is my review:
Having thoroughly
enjoyed the short story ‘Uncle Bud's Health Mine and the Girl Who's Going to
Fix the World’ by this author, I was delighted to receive ‘A Glimmer of Guile’
as a gift.
To start with, I found the title intriguing, as I’m sure was
intended, and although I don’t read a great deal in the fantasy genre, this
story held me entranced throughout. This
was partly due to Thornburg’s excellent writing, which has a beautiful lyricism
to it compared to most modern writers, but without superfluity. It makes me think of painting on silk as
opposed to board or canvas – full of delicate and smoothly flowing lines.
It’s impossible not to love the colourful characters with
their exotic names who parade the pages of the story. Vivia, young heroine is sent out on a
daunting quest which few would be brave enough to face. The friends (and enemies) she meets on her
journey are so interesting, they could each command their own story, but they
all help move Vivia’s dangerous quest – and the story - forward to its satisfying
and tightly-woven conclusion. At its
heart is a quiet, but sincere, love story complicated by the life decisions
Vivia has to make involving her mentor, Raym.
By the time I’d finished reading, I’d become so immersed in
the fictional world and the characters, that I felt quite bereft to leave
them. There was a hint of sadness about
the determined Vivia that made her endearing – a worthy heroine. I can’t
imagine anyone not enjoying this story; it will appeal to readers of all ages,
and I highly recommend it.
So no prizes for guessing how many cute cats I gave it!
About Mary Patterson Thornburg
Mary Patterson Thornburg has been a reader of science
fiction and fantasy for decades, and her writing hero is Ursula K. Le Guin, who
towers over those genres in her great gift of invention, her beautiful and
lucid style, and her moral wisdom and courage. In addition to A Glimmer of
Guile, Thornburg has published a second novel (The Kura), short fiction, poems,
and literary criticism. Her short story Niam's Tale won the 2011
SCBWI Magazine Merit Honor Certificate, and two of her stories received
honorable mention in The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror (2006, 2008).
She lives
in Montana with her husband, Thomas Thornburg.
