Otter is one of the Shadowed People, free women who live in
a forest town (called a pinch). Born to the binder named
Willow, she had learned about the art of tying the knots
that bind the dead since she was young. Deadly ghosts
called the White Hands wreak havoc if they are not bound by
the knots. The Shadowed People speak tales of a great binder
named the Mad Spider and Otter's mother, Willow, is perhaps
the greatest binder to live since the times of Mad Spider.
Unfortunately, Otters world is about to change as Willow
names an apprentice... and it isn't Otter. How will Otter
cope
with a world in which she has no official binder status and
yet the dead still rise to haunt her pinch?
Erin Bow does a magnificent job at incorporating the
mythology of her world into SORROW'S KNOT. The Shadowed
People are a primarily matriarchal society and they hold
their secrets within their various disciplines, whether it's
the Rangers who guard the pinch, the Binders who cast the
wards through the tying of the knots, or the Storytellers
who remember the legends. Otter and her two best friends,
Kestrel and Cricket (one of the few males in the pinch)
break all the rules and share these legends. It is through
their eyes that we see the haunting quality that permeates
their world. I particularly like the way Erin Bow
incorporates the history of Mad Spider into the tale as it
gives us a better sense of both the characters and culture
she has crafted.
Erin Bow weaves a magical tale that reads more like a fable
than a typical young adult tale. We are treated to a
mystical world in which birth, death, and the cycle of life
are explored through the eyes of Otter. SORROW'S KNOT is a
haunting tale, one that resonates with the reader long past
the last page being turned. I stayed up well past my bedtime
trying to finish it as the lyrical narrative style had me
completely enthralled. SORROW'S KNOT is a heart-wrenching
but utterly beautiful tale!
From the acclaimed author of PLAIN KATE, a new novel about
what lurks in the shadows, and how to put it to rest...
In the world of SORROW'S KNOT, the dead do not rest easy.
Every patch of shadow might be home to something hungry,
something deadly. Most of the people of this world live on
the sunlit, treeless prairies. But a few carve out an uneasy
living in the forest towns, keeping the dead at bay with
wards made from magically knotted cords. The women who tie
these knots are called binders. And Otter's mother, Willow,
is one of the greatest binders her people have ever known.
But Willow does not wish for her daughter to lead the
lonely, heavy life of a binder, so she chooses another as
her apprentice. Otter is devastated by this choice, and
what's more, it leaves her untrained when the village falls
under attack. In a moment of desperation, Otter casts her
first ward, and the results are disastrous. But now Otter
may be her people's only hope against the shadows that
threaten them. Will the challenge be too great for her? Or
will she find a way to put the dead to rest once and for
all?
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