Musings of a South African Bookworm

I was searching Bargain Books for a book for me to read and a present for a friend as it was her birthday this last Friday. They had a ‘buy two for R99’ and my purchase was The Elephant in the Room and Jasmyn by Alex Bell (which was for the gift).

Maya Fowler was born in Cape Town and grew up in Stellenbosch.  Her novel The Elephant in the Room (2009) was shortlisted for the Herman Charles Bosman Prize.

From Wikipedia:

“Elephant in the room” is an English metaphorical idiom  for an obvious truth that is being ignored or goes unaddressed. The idiomatic expression also applies to an obvious problem or risk no one wants to discuss.

It is based on the idea that an elephant in a room would be impossible to overlook; thus, people in the room who pretend the elephant is not there have chosen to avoid dealing with the looming big issue.

and that is exactly what this book does. I found it rather horrifying that a parent can so very blatantly ignore her daughter’s eating issues. Lily Fields is the main character in this novel and starts as a young girl and her passage growing up into a young adult. Her mother is apathetic and the grandmother is domineering, not the most wonderful combination for ones role models. Lily decides that she needs to lose weight because she feels her legs are too squat and her hips are too wide. The nasty comments from the girls at school do not help to  give her confidence and so she stops eating. Well as much as she can possibly stop eating, but then discovers that if she does eat, she can just purge it after stuffing herself. This is Lily’s story of addiction, of the circles and lies the mind consistently weaves.

It is also the story of how, if as a parent you are not present, you can ignore the obvious truth of what  is happening right in front of you.

For me, this was a poignant, sad but beautifully written novel of a young girls eating disorder, set in Kalk Bay, Plumstead and The Karoo Farm, it encapsulates thoughts of a girl growing up.

It made me vow to always be present in my daughter’s life, to notice and to never ignore anything.

or over the last week and a half to be precise.

The Old Kingdom series or otherwise known as the Abhorsen Trilogy by Garth Nix.

Garth Nix is an Australian author and this is a fantasy series for young adults. Considering that I have been delving into the fantasy genre of late, this fit in perfectly. I thoroughly enjoyed all three books and to be honest, I couldn’t put them down and I remember one day last week I was desperate to carry on reading to find out what happened next but did not have the chance until bedtime! Believe me, it was a long day!

So, what are they about?

A magical fantastic world where the main character is a necromancer. But one who returns the living dead to death and not vice versa. The magical instruments used for such are bells, who all have names and as you read further into the story, you find out what those names mean. The world of Garth Nix is completely believable for a fantasty series and the descriptions between life and death are awesome!

The characters are hard core but likeable, I only had a little trouble with the last books main character who was just a little to self pitying for my liking, but by the end of the book she had changed dramatically, in a good way and I was quite sad to say goodbye to the characters. They definitely left an imprint in the reading space of my mind, my favourite must be the Disreputable Dog, who is one of the main character in the third instalment of the series. A dog, who is not a dog, but is a dog. Full of magic and dog like devotion.

All three books had me hooked, as you read, they only took me a week and  a half to read and the last one, because it was a Sunday, only a day and morning;-) I had to find out how it ended!

Thoroughly enjoyable, in fact, I think this may be my niece’s next Christmas present!

Have you read it, or anything else by Garth Nix? Is his other writing as good as this series?