The Girl With Glass Feet by Ali Shaw - April 2011
Posted: Tue Apr 05, 2011 3:50 pm
The Girl With Glass Feet
Today a library member brought back a book called The Girl With Glass Feet by Ali Shaw and it instantly caught my eye. The title intrigued me and the fact that is was longlisted for the Guardian First Book Award 2009 and the Costa Book Awards Shortlist 2009 only increased my interest. The library member told me “It’s a book that stayed with me and it doesn’t happen that often and it’s one that I want to purchase as I loved it so much.” There must be something special about this book! The Guardian newspaper said ‘Shaw has worked the great tradition of European fairy tales and come up with an ingenious story…A magical fable of fate and resignation.’ So what is this book all about then?
A mysterious and frightening alchemical metamorphosis has befallen Ida Maclaird - she is slowly turning into glass, from the feet up. She returns to St Hauda's Land, where she believes the glass first took hold, in search of a cure. Midas Crook is a young loner, who has lived on the islands his entire life. When he meets Ida, something about her sad, defiant spirit pierces his emotional defenses. As Midas helps Ida come to terms with her affliction, she gradually unpicks the knots of his heart, and they begin to fall in love...What they need most is time - and time is slipping away fast. Will they find a way to stave off the spread of the glass? "The Girl with Glass Feet" is a dazzlingly imaginative and gripping first novel, a love story to treasure.
Why don’t you join us in our virtual book club? Try your local library for a copy of the book or see if your local bookshop has a copy. I’d love to hear your reactions and views and suggestions for next month’s club!
Today a library member brought back a book called The Girl With Glass Feet by Ali Shaw and it instantly caught my eye. The title intrigued me and the fact that is was longlisted for the Guardian First Book Award 2009 and the Costa Book Awards Shortlist 2009 only increased my interest. The library member told me “It’s a book that stayed with me and it doesn’t happen that often and it’s one that I want to purchase as I loved it so much.” There must be something special about this book! The Guardian newspaper said ‘Shaw has worked the great tradition of European fairy tales and come up with an ingenious story…A magical fable of fate and resignation.’ So what is this book all about then?
A mysterious and frightening alchemical metamorphosis has befallen Ida Maclaird - she is slowly turning into glass, from the feet up. She returns to St Hauda's Land, where she believes the glass first took hold, in search of a cure. Midas Crook is a young loner, who has lived on the islands his entire life. When he meets Ida, something about her sad, defiant spirit pierces his emotional defenses. As Midas helps Ida come to terms with her affliction, she gradually unpicks the knots of his heart, and they begin to fall in love...What they need most is time - and time is slipping away fast. Will they find a way to stave off the spread of the glass? "The Girl with Glass Feet" is a dazzlingly imaginative and gripping first novel, a love story to treasure.
Why don’t you join us in our virtual book club? Try your local library for a copy of the book or see if your local bookshop has a copy. I’d love to hear your reactions and views and suggestions for next month’s club!