Glass

As part of my ongoing New Year's resolution to read more sci-fi/fantasy, I took a stroll through that section the last time I was at the library. I grabbed three random books off the shelf that intrigued me by title alone. Apparently, however, my memory for book titles is poor, as I ended up grabbing one that I'd already read. It was better the second time round. That is not the book I will be discussing today.

Today's book is the author's debut novel. It is more fantasy than sci-fi, and is cold and haunting. The book is The Girl with Glass Feet, by Ali Shaw. Do you see why I grabbed the book? With a title like that, who could pass it by?

The book is set in the cold and lonely archipelago of St. Hauda's Land, which appears to be north of another highly populated island. While at times I thought St. Hauda's Land read like Newfoundland, I believe the archipelago is a fictionalized version of either the Shetland islands (an island group north of Scotland near to Norway) or the Faroe islands (an island group northwest of Scotland and near to Iceland). Both island groups are remote and northerly, like the fictional St. Hauda's Land.

The titular girl with glass feet is Ida Maclaird. She visited the islands last summer when they were warm and the sky was blue. She has returned now in the cold, grey winter to find a cure: her feet are slowly turning into glass. Ida meets Midas Crook on the island - a lonely and strange young man who sees the world through his camera lens. Ida and Midas form an unlikely bond as she attempts to stop and reverse the growth of glass.

But it is not just about Ida and Midas: Shaw reveals the stories of Midas' father and mother and Ida's father and mother with flashbacks woven throughout. The islands are small, and everyone is interconnected. Decisions made in the past will have implications on decisions made by Midas and Ida in the present. It is not just a story about a girl whose feet are turning into glass, it is a story about St. Hauda's Land and the people who live there.

The story is strange and haunting. The fantasy portions of the novel don't hit you over the head with their uniqueness, but are woven into the fabric of the story. The fantastical is made matter-of-fact. Ida is an everyday, likeable character - except for the fact that her feet are turning into glass. Does she find a way to stop it? I'm not going to give away the ending of the book - except to say that the answer to that question is almost immaterial to the novel. I was not quite expecting the ending that did happen, but looking back at the book I probably should have been prepared.

The Girl with Glass Feet is an intriguing and interesting book. When reading it, I had to keep checking my own feet to ensure that they were not turning into glass. I don't think that this is a book that everyone will enjoy, but it is a good read nonetheless. It piqued my curiosity and caught my attention. I will be interested to see what this unique young writer will do next.