Green has always
lived at Foxlowe. The crumbling old house is a little scary, but the
fields are beautiful. Nine adults and three children live at Foxlowe.
The founders, Richard, whose house it is, Freya, the leader, and
Libby, are the main adults. Freya is the most powerful, meting out
punishment and keeping the Family together.
Inside the Family,
she tells them, life is safe. Outside is the Bad. People outside are
corrupted by money and power, not in the family. Green and the other
children know no other world. Theirs is a world steeped in Family and
the trappings of pagan religion.
But the Family
crumbles. In the second part of the novel, Green is out in the world
struggling to understand how very different it is. Since she can
barely read or write, it’s a significant shock to be outside. At
the very end, we find out what happened to drive the Family apart.
It’s a horrifying story.
The book is filled
with strange settings, child abuse, and pagan religion. For the first
part of the book the child’s view and the eerie setting suck you
in, but when Green joins the world outside Foxlowe, the story loses
some of it’s charm.
I found the book
difficult to read. Because the first half of the novel is told
through the eyes of a young child, it is told in simple sentences and
some of the words don’t make a great deal of sense until you become
familiar with the jargon of the commune. For me, the intimations of
child abuse were difficult to read. These children were completely
under the adult’s influence with no outside interference.
Punishment was easy and there as no accounting.
The underlying story
of how the mind of a child is affected by it’s up-bringing is
interesting. There is a great deal to discuss within the confines of
the novel. I think it would make an excellent choice for a reading
group.
I received this book
from Penguin for this review.
No comments:
Post a Comment