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A review by colltheresa
Tanglewreck by Jeanette Winterson
4.0
I'm not a fast reader, but I'm a persistent reader, and I finished this entire book on a 7 1/2 hour bus ride from NY to VA. I don't normally read children's books, but literally every other book I wanted to read was either checked out, or not available on my library app, plus Jeanette Winterson is my all time favorite author, so it wasn't exactly a hard sell.
We start out with an 11 year old Silver and find out she's living in a fantastically old house, full of history with her Aunt Rockabye after her parents and older sister went missing four years earlier. If you've read any of Winterson's other works and you're anything like me, you've come to anticipate her magical realism, and this book did not disappoint! She has this nearly tangible relationship with the house, named Tanglewreck, as if it's alive, and the two of them take care of each other. The second Aunt Rockabye is introduced, you will love to hate her!
Taking place in modern day London, strange things have been happening to time; sometimes it stands still, other times the past catches up to the present, but most worrying of all are the time tornadoes. A time tornado is essentially a vortex between two different time realities or dimensions, and anyone/thing who gets caught in its path is picked up and inexplicably goes missing, never to be seen again. One day a mysterious man shows up at Tanglewreck asking about a very particular clock called the Timekeeper, offering an enormous sum of money for it. This clock has been in Silver's family for hundreds of years, and was thought to have vanished along with her father all those years ago. Silver doesn't know where the Timekeeper is, or why it's so important, but she knows she can't let this man find it first. Silver embarks on a journey to save time itself, with the help of some some peculiar friends, and finds some answers along the way.
It was obvious that it was a children's book in the sense that there were clear cut good guys and bad guys. I won't say there was no dimension there, but not much which is to be expected. Being only 11 years old, Silver is an incredibly brave and determined young girl, she makes for quite the heroine! She radiates purity, and that extends into everything she touches, especially her relationship with the boy she had a crush on!
This was a very sweet book, and if you're looking for something just light and fanciful enough to make you wonder about the world again, I highly recommend this book!
We start out with an 11 year old Silver and find out she's living in a fantastically old house, full of history with her Aunt Rockabye after her parents and older sister went missing four years earlier. If you've read any of Winterson's other works and you're anything like me, you've come to anticipate her magical realism, and this book did not disappoint! She has this nearly tangible relationship with the house, named Tanglewreck, as if it's alive, and the two of them take care of each other. The second Aunt Rockabye is introduced, you will love to hate her!
Taking place in modern day London, strange things have been happening to time; sometimes it stands still, other times the past catches up to the present, but most worrying of all are the time tornadoes. A time tornado is essentially a vortex between two different time realities or dimensions, and anyone/thing who gets caught in its path is picked up and inexplicably goes missing, never to be seen again. One day a mysterious man shows up at Tanglewreck asking about a very particular clock called the Timekeeper, offering an enormous sum of money for it. This clock has been in Silver's family for hundreds of years, and was thought to have vanished along with her father all those years ago. Silver doesn't know where the Timekeeper is, or why it's so important, but she knows she can't let this man find it first. Silver embarks on a journey to save time itself, with the help of some some peculiar friends, and finds some answers along the way.
It was obvious that it was a children's book in the sense that there were clear cut good guys and bad guys. I won't say there was no dimension there, but not much which is to be expected. Being only 11 years old, Silver is an incredibly brave and determined young girl, she makes for quite the heroine! She radiates purity, and that extends into everything she touches, especially her relationship with the boy she had a crush on!
This was a very sweet book, and if you're looking for something just light and fanciful enough to make you wonder about the world again, I highly recommend this book!