The Glass Town Game (Catherynne M. Valente)

The Glass Town Game
Catherynne M. Valente
Margaret K. McElderry Books
Fiction, MG Fantasy
**** (Good)

DESCRIPTION: Once, there were six children in the Bronte house on the edge of the dreary moors... until the two eldest daughters caught ill at their perfectly cruel boarding school. Now it is time for Charlotte and Emily to return there - tearing them away from their little sister Anne and their often-wicked (but still their sibling so they love him anyway) brother Branwell, away from their games in the little room at the top of the stairs where they sent their toys to all sorts of wars and adventures in all sorts of imaginary lands. But when the day comes to escort Charlotte and Emily to the boarding school carriages (with Anne tagging along for one last goodbye), Branwell insists on a detour to see the new local marvel, the great steam engine at the new train station. What they find is something much more marvelous than a train: a man made entirely of books, and two wooden men very much like their toy soldiers at home... only nobody else at the station seems aware of them. Surely this is a magical adventure in the making, and no proper child would turn their back on a chance for one last great adventure before school and growing up steal magic away. Thus they find themselves whisked off to Glass Town, a place they invented - only it's not exactly like their games. For one thing, their Napoleon Bonaparte wasn't made of bones with musket arms, nor did he ride a great firebreathing rooster. For another, they never invented "grog", a miraculous liquid that cures death - a liquid at the heart of the great war shattering the realm in a very literal sense. And surely they would've remembered inventing Brunty, the terribly wicked book man. As the Brontes become swept up in the struggles and politics of Glass Town, they realize that this is no longer a game... indeed, unless they're very clever and very lucky, they might never live to make it home to England again.

REVIEW: The Glass Town Game draws inspiration from the real-life childhoods of the Brontes in a story with strong nods to Edward Eager and other classic children's tales (plus a few slight shades reminiscent of another Valente series, her delightful Fairyland books.) The world is full of wonderfully inventive imagery and ideas, bound by a thin veneer of storybook logic and literalism. At its heart are four siblings struggling with growing up and coping with both the deaths of loved ones and futures that they feel powerless to direct: their parson father insists the only real role for a lady is a governess, at least until she becomes a wife, and Branwell's artistic leanings will be no use to a boy clearly expected to follow in his dad's footsteps. At times, the plot drags a bit as it wends through backstory and lingers over oddities, and there were a couple threads and characters that seemed underutilized by the end. I'm also sure I missed some points by only having a vague, cultural osmosis familiarity with the Brontes. Still, it's a fun, somewhat throwback story with some brilliant turns of phrase and a solid heart to it.

You Might Also Enjoy:
Knight's Castle (Edward Eager) - My Review
Un Lun Dun (China Mieville) - My Review
The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of her Own Making (Catherynne M. Valente) - My Review