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juushikaTitle: Winter Rose
Author: Patricia A. McKillip
Published: New York: Ace Books, 2002 (1996)
Rating: 4 of 5
Page Count: 262
Total Page Count: 125,895
Text Number: 365
Read Because: recommended by![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
phoenixfalls, borrowed from the Multnomah County Library
Review: When Corbet Lynn comes to reclaim the dilapidated Lynn Hall, the wild Rois—given to foraging barefoot in the woods—becomes obsessed with the secrets and curses of his past. Winter Rose is a Tam Lin retelling at its best: it harvests some aspects (from Tam Lin and other tales) and discards others while maintaining the emotional and symbolic essence of the source material; it then weaves an entire tale around that skeleton, creating a vivid setting and cast without losing the story's magic. Indeed, McKillip's prose is alive with it—her voice is jewel-toned and embroidered, rich with imagery and distinctly magical; it's reminiscent of McKinley but, while occasionally too dreamlike, is not prone to McKinley's frothy atmosphere. The story that grows from it is a tapestry of symbols, a complete internal mythology fueled by resonant emotion and character agency. In a word, it's beautiful. At times it threatens to run off with itself, and the characters and rural setting lean towards banality, but Winter Rose is nonetheless the best of what symbolism can be: entwined images of captivating beauty, startlingly precise and meaningful. This was my introduction to McKillip, and I couldn't ask for better. I recommended it to the interested: if you're here for imagery, McKillip satisfies; if not, the style may wear thin.
Review posted here on Amazon.com.
Author: Patricia A. McKillip
Published: New York: Ace Books, 2002 (1996)
Rating: 4 of 5
Page Count: 262
Total Page Count: 125,895
Text Number: 365
Read Because: recommended by
phoenixfalls, borrowed from the Multnomah County LibraryReview: When Corbet Lynn comes to reclaim the dilapidated Lynn Hall, the wild Rois—given to foraging barefoot in the woods—becomes obsessed with the secrets and curses of his past. Winter Rose is a Tam Lin retelling at its best: it harvests some aspects (from Tam Lin and other tales) and discards others while maintaining the emotional and symbolic essence of the source material; it then weaves an entire tale around that skeleton, creating a vivid setting and cast without losing the story's magic. Indeed, McKillip's prose is alive with it—her voice is jewel-toned and embroidered, rich with imagery and distinctly magical; it's reminiscent of McKinley but, while occasionally too dreamlike, is not prone to McKinley's frothy atmosphere. The story that grows from it is a tapestry of symbols, a complete internal mythology fueled by resonant emotion and character agency. In a word, it's beautiful. At times it threatens to run off with itself, and the characters and rural setting lean towards banality, but Winter Rose is nonetheless the best of what symbolism can be: entwined images of captivating beauty, startlingly precise and meaningful. This was my introduction to McKillip, and I couldn't ask for better. I recommended it to the interested: if you're here for imagery, McKillip satisfies; if not, the style may wear thin.
Review posted here on Amazon.com.
