Hey, everybody! Welcome back to Tumnus’ Bookshelf, where we review any and all books written by, about, and inspired by CS Lewis, The Land of Narnia, and The Inklings. For today’s review, we will be looking at Laura E. Weymouth’s new novel The Light Between Worlds.
Title: The Light Between Worlds
Author: Laura E. Weymouth
Publisher: HarperTeen (October 23, 2018)
ISBN-10: 0062696874
ISBN-13: 978-0062696878
Summary:
Once three children, Jamie, Philippa, and Evelyn Hapwell were hiding in their Anderson Shelter during the air raids on London during the second World War when they were called into another world, known as The Woodlands. There they served the mystical stag Cervus, protecting his kingdom from a dreaded invasion. Then their time in the Woodlands ended and the returned home, forced to resume their old lives.
Years later, Evelyn feels an even deeper longing for the Woodlands, not fully at home in England. Philippa went to America, hoping to grow up and put it all behind her. When Evelyn fears that yearning grow even greater, the journeys of these two girls intersect as they embark on a journey of faith, identity, doubt, love, loss, and pain.
Review:
One of the most haunting questions for fans of fantasy books is that of what comes after our heroes and heroines return home? Whether it’s the Darlings, the Pevensies, Frodo Baggins, Meg Murray, Dorothy Gale, or Alice these beloved characters experienced a powerful life changing event, and are expected to go back to a normal life. This is to say nothing of the traumas they may have faced along the way. As Frodo Baggins observed in the film adaptation of The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, “How do you pick up the threads of an old life? How do you go on, when in your heart you begin to understand… there is no going back?”
It’s a great question, one that inspires many modern fantasy stories set after the adventure is complete. However, one problem many if these stories have is that often times the magic of the original work is lost along the way. While we want that question answered, we still want Oz, Neverland, Wonderland, Narnia, Middle-earth, Uriel, and the friends we’ve made along the way, to remain as real, wonderful, and a magical as they were when we first met them. It’s a tall order for any writer, and thus, the only solution for any aspiring writer is to create their own world.
Laura E. Weymouth’s new novel The Light Between Worlds not only creates a new world but dives deep into that question of picking up those threads of an old life, as it’s young heroine, Evelyn Hapwell, struggles to find her place back in the “reality” after her time in such a magical world, and tells her compelling story about a crisis of faith, identity, purpose, and longing for more beyond this world. We’ve become spoiled these days by the bumper crop of strong, smart, capable female characters in young adult fiction, and thus Evelyn feels strangely fresh as she journeys not through a wonderland, but rather the “Dark Night of the Soul.” It is one thing to be strong, smart, and confident, but it is another to have all that thrown out the window as your life is upended and force to question what you believe and what is real. It’s a fundamental part of growing up, and it’s something that makes Evelyn and her journey so engaging.
In contrast to her is her older sister Philippa. Unlike Evelyn she has accepted she can’t go back to the Woodland world and her sister’s insistence has driven her off. When she returns to England we see her follow the same path as Susan’s in The Last Battle but by diving into Philippa’s mind, we see that those materialistic pursuits were a coping mechanism that she embraced as a shield to protect herself from being hurt. However, this is only where her story starts as when tragedy strikes, we follow her on a journey reminiscent of Oreul in Till We Have Faces to a satisfying conclusion. Because of this, at risk of making waves among the fantasy fandom community, Weymouth might even do a better job of answering the proverbial “problem of Susan” than Neil Gaiman.
Like all good fantasy novels there must be one unsung hero like Peter in Narnia or Sam and Faramir in The Lord of the Rings. In The Light Between the Worlds, that role falls to the eldest Hapwell child, Philippa and Evelyn’s brother Jamie. Like Peter before him, Jamie is the solid rock for the family, trying his best to keep peace and act as a sounding-board. Whether it’s World War II, their time in Woodlands, or their lives after their adventure we see him try to help his family through it all. We aren’t told much about him, but it’s clear that he loves his sisters and will do whatever he can for them.
Pulling Evelyn back to reality is a potential love interest Tom Harper. We can see quickly why Evelyn is so drawn to him, He’s a nice, decent, good guy who genuinely cares for her, and is interested in what she has to say. He knows there is something different about her, and while she won’t tell him it makes him more intrigued. We see that he’s been willing to open up to her about his own pain in hopes of getting her to share. You feel sorry for him along the way as it becomes clear that there is a romance doomed to fail.
Much of the adventure of the three children in the fantasy world is told in the context of a flashback. Led by the talking stag Cervus the world known only as The Woodlands is a vibrant world that will feel familiar to any lover of classic fantasy, complete with mythical creatures, and a villain that feels like he could be the son of The White Witch and Saruman from Lord of the Rings as Evelyn, Philippa, and Jamie struggle to hold back his invasion. This allows the reader to question whether or not Evelyn has gone out of her mind from the war or if it was real. You can see how this experience has divided her and her siblings and the strain it placed on them, and watch as her life unravels around her. However, those passages set in the other world feel so real, so vivid, and so genuine that you find yourself longing for that kingdom with Evelyn and hoping against hope that it was real.
As on point as Weymouth’s world building is, her reconstruction of the world of post World War II England that stands head and shoulders above other authors of Young Adult Fiction. The cars, the clothes, and the descriptions of London during World War II and after are accurately realized. Moreover, Evelyn, Philippa, and Jamie actually talk like young people from 1944, and not just tweens from 2018 that happen to be in the 1940s. It can be hard to make dated language feel genuine coming from a young person’s mouth, but that is not the case here. Thanks to the book’s tight pace, anchored by a first person POV narrative, readers can slip into the world of post-war England as effortlessly as the Hapwells slip into the Woodlands.
Despite this the book still feels relevant. On her website, Weymouth does have content warnings for parents and readers. Her book features haunting depictions of war, trauma, and mental health related issues which may be upsetting to readers who have dealt with those sorts of things. This isn’t to discourage fans from reading the book, but rather to prepare parents in hopes of fostering discussions about those topics. These moments are heart-wrenching gut punches to the reader, and a lesser writer would perhaps cave to cynicism or nihilism with these themes, or worse glamorize and romanticize them, but Weymouth never does. Yes, these aspects of life are harsh, but they cannot be all-consuming, and Weymouth never lets the darkness control her story or allows her characters to give up the pursuit of hope, something often lacking in mainstream fantasy these days.
It’s something that makes this more than just an entertaining read. Filled with great characters, a timely theme, a perfectly captured setting, and a willingness to not only ask but dwell with the most enduring question in fantasy literature, “what happens when our heroes and heroines return home?”, this is a mesmerizing tale of two engaging young women that goes beyond just high stakes fantasy adventure and dares to journey into the dark night of the soul on a quest for something much more. Along with The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, The Hobbit, and A Wrinkle in Time, I can think of no better fantasy book to share with a young adult this Christmas season than The Light Between Worlds.
Five out of Five shields
Buy the book from Amazon.com.
