well, well, wishing well
Franny Billingsley's Well Wished is one of those books that I did not really like when I first read it, but which made enough of an impression that I decided to keep around and eventually give it another try. This turned out to be a good decision!
Well Wished is the story of Nuria, an orphan who after spending years with a less-than-desirable aunt has now lived for over a year with her grandfather in a mountain village. As this is a Billingsley book and an appropriately creepy premise is needed, for the last year Nuria has been the only child in the village, after some magic gone wrong caused every other family with children to move away. You see, the village is home to a wishing well that actually grants wishes (one per lifetime, must be properly paid for, you have one month to revoke it), but the Well has a habit of making your wish come true in the worst way possible.
But then things start to change. Another family is brought back, and they have a girl, Catty, who is just Nuria's age. Naturally, Nuria and Catty become best friends. But both of them, honestly, have agendas, and Catty's may cause things to go seriously wrong...
Billingsley's heroines always have a connection to words in some way, and Nuria brings in the language of fairy tales. The descriptions are often striking and some of them really ring true (I love the way singing is discussed). When Billingsley goes out of her way to be atmospheric, however, it doesn't work as well. The description of the moment all the children vanished is chilling, the smoke face of foreshadowing that follows Nuria around for a while is a little lame. And while Nuria and Catty are strong, well-understood characters, I have to say the rest of the cast falls rather flat.
I have to say, though, that the second half is disappointing. Billingsley sets up this great exploration of identity, but doesn't seem to have the heart to quite go through with it. I would have appreciated Nuria having to struggle more to define and discover herself while in Catty's body. And vice versa. I understand that switching points of view would entail going over a lot of the same territory and thus possibly hurt the narrative, but I really think this would have been much better as a dual point of view book. Our understanding of Catty is very shallow in comparison to our understanding of Nuria, and I really think that hurts the book. The ending is also too happy, if you ask me. After all that came before, it seems implausible that the Well would cooperate like that.
I do, however, really appreciate that Catty isn't vilified for her behavior. It's understandable considering her circumstances, and Billingsley treats it as such. Billingsley doesn't really romanticize Nuria either, she has flaws in her behavior that aren't ignored (and that may have made condemnation of Catty hypocritical). And while I think more development of the actual friendship was called for, I'm very glad the friendship survived.
Well Wished is essentially the story of two strong girls who have been under a lot of pressure (of very different sorts) coming into their own, with creepy setup and intertextuality thrown in for good measure. It's not perfect, but if that sounds like your thing and you want a very quick read with some lovely language, I'd recommend it.
Well Wished is the story of Nuria, an orphan who after spending years with a less-than-desirable aunt has now lived for over a year with her grandfather in a mountain village. As this is a Billingsley book and an appropriately creepy premise is needed, for the last year Nuria has been the only child in the village, after some magic gone wrong caused every other family with children to move away. You see, the village is home to a wishing well that actually grants wishes (one per lifetime, must be properly paid for, you have one month to revoke it), but the Well has a habit of making your wish come true in the worst way possible.
But then things start to change. Another family is brought back, and they have a girl, Catty, who is just Nuria's age. Naturally, Nuria and Catty become best friends. But both of them, honestly, have agendas, and Catty's may cause things to go seriously wrong...
Billingsley's heroines always have a connection to words in some way, and Nuria brings in the language of fairy tales. The descriptions are often striking and some of them really ring true (I love the way singing is discussed). When Billingsley goes out of her way to be atmospheric, however, it doesn't work as well. The description of the moment all the children vanished is chilling, the smoke face of foreshadowing that follows Nuria around for a while is a little lame. And while Nuria and Catty are strong, well-understood characters, I have to say the rest of the cast falls rather flat.
I have to say, though, that the second half is disappointing. Billingsley sets up this great exploration of identity, but doesn't seem to have the heart to quite go through with it. I would have appreciated Nuria having to struggle more to define and discover herself while in Catty's body. And vice versa. I understand that switching points of view would entail going over a lot of the same territory and thus possibly hurt the narrative, but I really think this would have been much better as a dual point of view book. Our understanding of Catty is very shallow in comparison to our understanding of Nuria, and I really think that hurts the book. The ending is also too happy, if you ask me. After all that came before, it seems implausible that the Well would cooperate like that.
I do, however, really appreciate that Catty isn't vilified for her behavior. It's understandable considering her circumstances, and Billingsley treats it as such. Billingsley doesn't really romanticize Nuria either, she has flaws in her behavior that aren't ignored (and that may have made condemnation of Catty hypocritical). And while I think more development of the actual friendship was called for, I'm very glad the friendship survived.
Well Wished is essentially the story of two strong girls who have been under a lot of pressure (of very different sorts) coming into their own, with creepy setup and intertextuality thrown in for good measure. It's not perfect, but if that sounds like your thing and you want a very quick read with some lovely language, I'd recommend it.