Illyria

by Elizabeth Hand

Overview

Madeleine and Rogan are first cousins, best friends, twinned souls, each other’s first love. Even within their large, disorderly family—all descendants of a famous actress—their intensity and passion for theater sets them apart. It makes them a little dangerous. When they are cast in their school’s production of Twelfth Night, they are forced to face their separate talents and futures, and their future together. This masterful short novel, winner of the World Fantasy Award, is magic on paper.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781101429464
Publisher:	Penguin Young Readers Group
Publication date:	05/13/2010
Sold by:	Penguin Group
Format:	eBook
Pages:	144
Sales rank:	769,053
File size:	188 KB
Age Range:	14 Years

About the Author

Elizabeth Hand lives in Lincolnville, Maine. Her adult novels have won the Shirley Jackson Award, two World Fantasy Awards, and two Nebula Awards. Viking will publish her next book, Wonderwall, in 2011.

Editorial Reviews

Readers will be as compelled by the strangely connected cousins as they may be disconcerted.

Bulletin for the Center of Children's Books

In this enchanting fantasy with a romance far more taboo than the current spate of paranormal pairings, Madeline and Rogan are 14-year-old first cousins and deeply in love. Their great-grandmother was a famous actress and although her descendants have become increasingly staid, these two cousins have inherited her talent. One day, after making love for the first time, they discover, hidden in the attic of the family’s ancestral mansion, “a toy theater, made of folded paper and gilt cardboard and scraps of brocade and lace,” where, each time they visit it, the scenery and lighting have changed, among other curiosities (“Snow was falling. Not everywhere. Only behind the proscenium, on the tiny stage itself”). The cousins are cast in a high school production of Twelfth Night, one that shares the magic of the toy theater. Rogan, as Feste the clown, seems inspired but increasingly wild. It soon becomes clear that his love for Madeline is doomed to disappointment, if not tragedy. The edgy subject matter, explicit but not gratuitous, relegates this novel to mature readers, but it’s beautifully written, rich in theatrical detail and intensely realized characters. Ages 14-up. (May)

Publishers Weekly

Romantic readers will be swept through the short novel... and will be left blinking in surprise...beyond the final page.

Horn Book

The subtlety and raw ache of the prose, and the realistic portrayal of artistic lives, triumphantly heralds Hand?s arrival into youth fiction.

Booklist

An imaginative dark fantasy is marred by opaque worldbuilding and clunky characterization. For 14 years, people have been taking advantage of Roger's talent to "cross over" to the Land of the Dead, so it's a relief to escape from his brutal uncle into hard labor at the royal laundry. Once there, however, he becomes a pawn between rival queens, while his obsession with a lovely court lady drags him into even more harrowing territory. The premise is fascinating, and the depiction of the afterlife and its oblivious denizens both creepy and eerily serene. Unfortunately, it is poorly integrated with either of the clashing plots of political intrigue and mysterious horror. While some of the characters are compelling, none is particularly likable; just as Roger frequently confesses that he is at a loss to understand their motivations, readers are left equally frustrated. Roger himself is passive, incurious, self-centered and craven, which may be realistic considering past abuse and present dangers, but it makes for an unpleasant narrator. The interesting implications of a matriarchal society are never explored, and the many unresolved questions create more irritation than anticipation for a sequel. Disappointing. (Fantasy. YA)

Kirkus Reviews