Book of a Thousand Days
by Shannon Hale
Published by Bloomsbury Children's Books
Click on book
cover to order
at Amazon.com
Reviewed by Andrea Sisco
Shannon Hale is the Newbery Honor author of Princess Academy. Book of a Thousand Days is based on the Grimm brothers’ fairy tale, Maid Maleen.
Dashti is a new maid and she doesn’t have time to learn her new job. She speaks an oath of loyalty to her mistress, Lady Saren and they are immediately locked in a tower (by Lady Saren’s father) for seven years because her mistress refused to marry Lord Khasar, a cruel and evil man.
Their food runs low and the days pass slowly. Dashti keeps herself sane by taking care of her mistress, their dismal surroundings and writing in her journal.
Through a small hole in the wall, Dashti comes in contact with Lady Saren’s two suitors. One visitor is the evil Lord Khasar (the reason she has been imprisoned) and the other is her true love, Tegus. They speak to Dashti through the dump hole. Lord Khasar’s violence is felt physically and emotionally. Tegus soft, loving conversations thrill Dashti and she falls in love with her mistress’s suitor.
An unexpected gift from the resident tower rats allows the two women freedom. But rather than that being the end of the story, it is really the beginning. Dashti cares for Lady Saren and finds a life she couldn’t imagine–and Lady Saren discovers her true self.
Shannon Hale’s ability to take tales and retell them in an exciting, dramatic manner is a gift. Her lyrical language draws in the reader and their heart and imagination is filled with love, redemption, fear, horror, adventure and romance.
If there’s any distraction, it’s one of adoration for Hale’s use of the language. “Maybe I got a few words wrong, but that’s so near how the conversation went, I’m going to call it truth.” Or; ” Things worn closest to the skin, to the heart, carry the scent of a person, and of course, scent is the breath of the soul.” Or my favorite: “So I ate my portion and then lay on my back, watching the clouds. Seven years of food isn’t worth trading for the sky.”
Armchair Interviews says: Children and adults alike will be thrilled with the wonderful stories spun by the master who is Shannon Hale. She is a modern day fairy-tale teller.
Author’s Web site: http://www.ShannonHale.com