There’s magic in these pages.
Andrea of Reader’s Emporium is back with a pair of books you should add to your winter reading list. Tales that will tug at your heartstrings and perhaps raise a valuable lesson.
Aug 2, 2023
Our friend Andrea Kinsmith, of Reader’s Emporium, is back with a pair of books you should add to your winter reading list. These unique tales will tug at your heartstrings and perhaps raise a valuable lesson or two.
This book is a thoughtful look at a piece of European history, giving historical characters a very human face... I was sorry when it came to an end.
The Embroidered Book by Kate Heartfield
If you like historical fiction with a dash of fantasy thrown in, then this book is for you.
Set in the 1700s, this epic story begins with an epic lineage. As well as featuring Marie Antoinette, the host of other historical characters make it a great way to learn some lesser-known history.
The story follows two young sisters sent away to form marriage alliances that will strengthen the power of the Habsburg Empire. Charlotte is sent to marry a very unpleasant, brutish man, and becomes Queen Carolina of Naples. Her sister Antoine is sent to France, where she is renamed Marie Antoinette.
The author puts you in each sister’s shoes as they are faced with the hard task of balancing loyalties to their home country, the new court they married into and the approval of the public. Through their struggles, you learn that the best course of action is not always clear or straightforward.
The embroidered book, originally owned by the sisters’ governess, is how the girls discover that there is ‘real’ magic – but this magic comes at a cost and must be used carefully and sparingly. The sisters must learn to harness this magic for their survival and the good of the people – the wrong move, even if well-intentioned, could change the balance of society forever.
This book is a thoughtful look at a piece of European history, giving historical characters a very human face. Although it is a long story, I was sorry when it came to an end.
Zadie Ma and the Dog Who Chased the Moon by Gabrielle Wang
This children’s novel is filled with the magic of storytelling and story weaving.
It follows a Chinese family living in Melbourne in the 1950s. Their young daughter Zadie writes stories… lots of stories. Some of these tales appear to come true and so she begins to believe her stories are magic.
Wanting a canine companion, Zadie weaves a story about finding and rescuing an abandoned dog. Several days later, the story does indeed come true, but the circumstances are not quite how she wrote them and there are unexpected consequences.
Full of allegories and insight, this book explores a range of issues as Zadie questions her powers and grapples with the repercussions.
Through Zadie’s adventures, we learn that stories are powerful even if they are not actually magical.
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