A review by lizzillia
A Girl Made Of Air by Nydia Hetherington

4.0

It was the cover that attracted me to this book - and the blurb which suggested a tale of circus life and folklore. The first pages are an interview - our funambulist, Mouse, is being interviewed and we learn a little about her. The interview sparks something in our protagonist's mind and she gathers together her notes and journals and starts typing up her story for the journalist who interviewed her. The story is told in a non chronological style with interviews, journals, news articles and letters and even folk tales from Serendipity Wilson and through these Mouse recounts her sad little life at the circus where she was left to fend for herself, unloved and unwanted by her mother. An new arrival to the circus, Serendipity Wilson, takes Mouse under her wing, teaches her to walk the wire and become a star. But an incident from her youth haunts Mouse and she leaves the circus - and England - to try to find what she lost. This is not a novel full of magic and sparkle - it is quite dark, full of secrets and human weakness and the grimy side of circus life. In fact when Mouse reads her mother's letter - that is a really dark and upsetting section. The pace is slow and there is a reveal at the end, but Mouse was not someone that I felt attached to. Even though I picked this up expecting something a lot more magical and light, it was a story that sort of kept my attention.