As one grows older, reading for hours on end is a luxury. More often than not, a book is read in bits and pieces. So it was delightful to discover the books of Katherine Rundell, who writes with such vivid lyricism that I finished both of her books, uninterrupted, in one Sunday afternoon.
Cartwheeling in Thunderstorms (Simon and Schuster, 2014)
This book is perfect to read, in fact, when it might be thundering outside. Wilhelmina Silver (or Will for short) loves running wild on the African savanna where her father is the foreman of Two Tree Hill farm. Rundell’s prose dances like the lilting speech of the savanna: “It was like the world was carved out of expectant silence. Will sniffed and tucked her legs under her chin. Her knees smelled the same as the air, of woodsmoke and earth. Had anyone ever been as happy as her?” When Will’s father dies of malaria, she is left an orphan and is sent away to boarding school in cold, urban London. Boarding school in England, she discovers, is not a place that welcomes racing, singing and cartwheeling, but is a gray contrast to her sunny Africa. Young readers will recognize Will’s journey to stay true to herself as the world around her changes. The magic of the African savanna comes from Rundell’s own childhood growing up in Zimbabwe, where she lived until she was 14.
Rooftoppers (Simon and Schuster, 2013)
Rundell’s first novel begins with the lines, “The morning of its first birthday, a baby was found floating in a cello case in the middle of the English Channel.” In Rooftoppers, Rundell flexes her storytelling muscles: “Think of night-time with a speaking voice. Or think how moonlight might talk, or think of ink, if ink had vocal chords. Give those things a narrow aristocratic face with hooked eyebrows, and long arms and legs, and that is what the baby saw as she was lifted out of her cello case and up into safety. His name was Charles Maxim, and he determined, as he held her in his large hands — at arm’s length, as he would a leaky flowerpot — that he would keep her.” Charles names the baby Sophie, and what follows is Sophie’s adventure to find her mother, whom she believes is still alive. As she races over the rooftops of Paris, young readers will be swept up in the magic of the story.
Written by Clara
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