Friday, October 28, 2011

Chime, by Franny Billingsley

This is a beautifully written story that takes place in an alternate England: an England where the spooky beings from the old stories are very much alive and well.  Briony has grown up truly believing she is an evil witch with dangerous powers, due to an accident years ago in which her identical suffered a great injury and has never been the same since.  Briony believes she is incapable of doing good, even when the city engineer's son tells her otherwise.  Though she is a minister's daughter, she renders herself an outsider, considering herself to be bad company and known by all to be rather cold and sharp in manner.  Briony does, however, have a sense of humor, which makes for black comedy-like storytelling.  I really liked Briony as a character: she is the narrator of the story, and the reader cares for her almost from the very beginning.  This is a great read for those who lie gothic romances with a bit of the supernatural thrown in for good measure, though it is also a story about a family that has been broken and is trying to come back together.  I would say it's more appropriate for ages 13 and up; there are story elements that are quite dark and even disturbing.