Thursday, October 2, 2008

Read this! - Wildwood Dancing by Julilet Marillier

I absolutely loved, loved, loved this book! After reading some books, I immediately wish I hadn’t read them so I could read them all over again for the first time. Wildwood Dancing was like that for me.

Jena is the second oldest of five sisters. They live in a castle called Piscul Draculi on the edge of the wildwood in Transylvania. Their father is a merchant and most of their days are spent helping their father run his business and helping out around the castle. Their days are filled with the boring, mundane chores that we all have to do. But the five sisters share a secret, one shining night a month, on the night of the full moon; they are able to magically open a passage into the fairy realm of the wildwood. On that night, the girls take special care to dress in their finest dresses and they spend the night dancing with the fair folk of the wildwood. The trip is not without peril though, and the girls have strict rules to make sure that all the sisters return home safe and sound to the familiar everyday world. Life is good for the sisters until one fateful winter. Their father must travel to a warmer climate for health reasons and the girls take over running his business and the household. The two eldest sisters, Tati and Jena must fight to keep control of the family business from falling in the hands of their bullying cousin Ceasar. This becomes increasingly difficult over the long winter months. The task is not made easier for Jena when Tati breaks their dancing rules and falls in love with one of the fair folk. Jena struggles to hold her family together and must learn how to be strong in a daytime world dominated by men, and the nighttime world of the wildwood run by capricious and sometimes dangerous fairies.

My daughter and friends enjoyed the book as well. It inspired us to have our own fairy ball.