THE WIDE STARLIGHT

A teen goes north to reclaim a lost loved one in this modern fairy tale.

Eline Davis lost her mother, Silje Lund, a decade ago, not to illness or abandonment, but to the Northern Lights, which stole Silje but left 6-year-old Eline behind on the ice. After Silje’s disappearance, Eline and her father left Svalbard, Norway, for the States, and Eline’s seemingly enchanted childhood succumbed to mundane reality. But life in Cape Cod is upended when she learns that her best friend, Iris, has secretly been applying to out-of-town schools and that the Northern Lights will be seen in Massachusetts, farther south than ever before. Eline’s modern-day quest in search of her mother alternates with her beloved stories and those of her mother and grandmother, all framed as fairy tales, until the boundaries blur. On her journey, Eline must contend with problems both practical—frostbite, polar bears, angst—and fantastic—storybook characters springing to life, a sentient wind—while also reconciling fond memories with the reality of Silje’s erratic behavior, flaws, and failures. Indebted to Norwegian folktales, Eline’s adventure follows a classic arc while also benefitting from modern technology. Raised and addressed to some degree is the magic-vs.–mental illness trope. Half-American/half-Norwegian Eline reads as White. With her vividly rendered settings, emotionally complex characters, and sweet and sinister magical realism, Lesperance may be a promising successor to Alice Hoffman.

Sharp and snow-dusted yet strangely cozy; a comforting winter’s read.