The Water’s Daughter by Michelle Lovric Orion Children’s Books ISBN 9781444010350 £6.99
Set in a rain soaked decaying Venice, where the flood waters are loosening the foundations and entire houses crash without warning into the canals. We meet the enigmatic Aurelia Bon, a girl with a unique gift. She can touch the walls of buildings and is rewarded with images from its past and stories from its historical inhabitants. The core of the story is a puzzle, the whereabouts of a missing lamp lighter boy called Momo, who has disappeared into the “Palace that Eats Boys” and the plucky Aurelia uses her gifts to delve into the past and solve the mystery.
This unique story is at times baffling, often bizarre, but always told with exquisitely drawn imagery. The author takes the reader on a fantastic journey where we meet hoary historians in the Venetian Republic, an Irish Pirate Duchesse, bejewelled Djinns, Cosair cats and mermaids (of course). There are so many unusual characters in the story, a younger reader might been benefit from taking notes. Readers will no doubt enjoy the Historical Notes section at the end of the novel – it’s always a delight to find out how the author was inspired by real characters and events. Overall, The Water’s Daughter is an exciting story with plenty of intrigue with which to reward an adventurous reader.
Hilary Payne
