Hortense and the Shadow
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- $9.99
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
A haunting, original fairy tale from two dazzling debut picture book talents, in the spirit of Neil Gaiman and Carson Ellis.
Hortense is a kind and brave girl, but she is sad--even angry--that her shadow follows her everywhere she goes. She hates her shadow, and thinks her shadow must hate her too. But one cold, dark night, when bandits surprise her in the woods, Hortense discovers that her shadow is the very thing she needs most.
This stunningly illustrated story stirs the soul with its compelling, subtle exploration of self-esteem, self-identity, and finding inner strength.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
This haunting, folk tale style debut from two sisters combines delicate, wintry images with dark thoughts. Hortense lives in a mansion that looks very much like a Russian Orthodox church, with onion domes, turrets, and ornate furniture. Hortense is "kind and brave," but she's locked in conflict with her own shadow. She's not just irritated by it: "Hortense hated her shadow." The O'Haras draw Hortense with a spidery black line looking angrily at her shadow on the snow it's long, gray, and menacing. In a convulsion of despair, Hortense dashes through a window and slams it behind her, casting her shadow from the house altogether. But when bandits arrive one night, it's her shadow who saves her. It's an allegory of reconciliation with the dark emotions human beings inevitably harbor; if Hortense's shadow is sometimes "dark, fierce, strange, silly, jagged, or blue, well... sometimes Hortense is too," the story concludes. Some readers may be unsettled by the depth of Hortense's obsession, made all the spookier by garden tracery and architectural embellishment right out of Rebecca, but children who love eerie stories will be fascinated. Ages 4 8.
