There Is a Door in This Darkness
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- Pre-Order
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- Expected Jun 11, 2024
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- $10.99
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- Pre-Order
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- $10.99
Publisher Description
A magic-tinged contemporary YA about grief and hope from the acclaimed New York Times bestselling author of the Graceling Realm novels.
Wilhelmina Hart is part of the infamous class of 2020. Her high school years began with a shocking presidential election and ended with a pandemic. In the midst of this global turmoil, she also lost one of her beloved aunts, a loss she still feels keenly. Having deferred college, Wilhelmina now lives in a limbo she can see no way out of, like so many of her peers. Wilhelmina’s personal darkness would be unbearable (especially with another monumental election looming) but for the inexplicable and seemingly magical clues that have begun to intrude on her life—flashes of bizarre, ecstatic whimsy that seem to add up to a message she can’t quite grasp. But something tells her she should follow their lead. Maybe a trail of elephants, birds, angels, and stale doughnuts will lead Wilhelmina to a door?
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Cashore (Seasparrow) examines themes of grief informed by the 2020 presidential election and the Covid-19 pandemic via a speculative narrative in this intimate read. High school graduateWilhelmina Hart was raised by her aunts Margaret, Frankie, and Esther. Following Aunt Frankie's death, Wilhelmina begins seeing bizarre visions that all seem to know her name and prophesize events before they occur. She soon realizes that she's not the only one—her attractive friend James Fang, whose family owns a doughnut shop, is experiencing otherworldly events, too. As the 2020 presidential election draws near, Wilhelmina struggles to make sense of this new and strange magic and must come to terms with Aunt Frankie's death if she hopes to find some peace amid tumultuous happenings. Via vulnerable and sensate third-person prose and chapters that move back and forth in time throughout the year, Cashore quilts together small, everyday moments that center family and healing. Though the punctuated nature of certain interactions can sometimes foster disconnection between the characters' lives and relationships, distancing them from the reader, it all culminates in a nimbly braided slice-of-life tale. Wilhelmina reads as white; James is of Italian and Chinese descent. Ages 12–up.
