Book: The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making
Author: Catherynne M. Valente
Release Date: 2011
Source: owned
Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Well hello, all! It’s been awhile (almost a full month to be exact), and I haven’t written a thing since my last blog post. Not a thing! It’s quite horrifying. But I’ve just been so swamped with work and general life nonsense, and any free time I had (which wasn’t much) was mostly devoted to passing out.

BUT, I come bearing a new book review, so I hope all is forgiven!

The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making by Catherynne M. Valente is one of those books that I have been meaning to read for AGES. I started it once, a couple years ago, but only got about 4 or 5 chapters in before something happened — I don’t even remember WHAT — to distract me from the book and I never got back to it. Until now!

I downloaded the audiobook, since lately the only time I’ve had to “read” is when I can listen to an audiobook while I work (which has made getting through my stack of ARCs extra difficult, since those don’t generally come in audio format, more’s the pity). And I “read” the audiobook in like two days flat!

Folks, it was SO GOOD!

I suspect most people have at least a vague idea of what the book is about, since it’s been out for so long already (it was released in 2011!), but BASICALLY: The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making is a portal fantasy in the fine tradition of Alice in Wonderland, The Wizard of Oz, etc. It follows the adventures of a young girl named September who one evening is whisked away from her home in Omaha, Nebraska by The Green Wind (as a dashing gentleman in a green coat, riding The Leopard of Small Breezes). September is a smart, precocious child who hates pink and loves anything orange, who reads a lot, and who is described as being “somewhat heartless” (but our narrator assures us that ALL children are born a bit heartless and their hearts grow as they grow). Her father has gone off to war (the book never says which war, but I get the impression it’s WW1?) and her mother works in a factory building engine parts. September doesn’t want to be in her house, or in Omaha (at one point the narrator says Omaha isn’t a place for ANYONE to be, and I laughed out loud because my best friend lives in Omaha), so she leaps at the chance to go on an adventure with The Green Wind.

But the moment September enters Fairyland she is alone, because The Green Wind cannot get the right visa to be allowed in, so she must travel on her own, with nothing but her own wits and courage to keep her going. In Fairyland she meets witches, a wyvern (who may be half-library on his father’s side) named A-through-L, a a marid named Saturday, and comes face-to-face with the villain of the story: The Marquess, who may or may not have killed the previous ruler of Fairyland, Queen Mallow.

And then the story gets CRAZY.

This story is beautiful and odd and heart-breaking like all the best portal fantasies are. The prose is lyrical and clever and arch, with the narrator often breaking through to speak directly to the readers in ways that are both hilarious and illuminating. The characters and imagery are so strange and unique and fascinating, as they should be in the best kinds of portal fantasy. This story feels like a classic, like it’s been around for decades and decades, not just 9 years!

The backstory of the Marquess (I’m trying not to be spoilery here) made me legit cry, because it is precisely the thing I think about at the end of every portal fantasy, the thing that I fear, the thing that breaks my heart at the end of so many stories. When I got to that scene, I had to stop and cry for awhile before I could continue.

Supposedly, this book (and the whole series) is targeted at the middle grade readers market, for ages 10-14. And it certainly shelved and sold in the children’s sections at most bookstores. But I feel like an adult is actually going to get more out of it than a child will. There are parts, especially some of the things the narrator says, but also things like the Marquess’s backstory, that are almost certainly meant for an adult to read and appreciate and FEEL deeply, in their bones.

The ending was bittersweet and I had to sit back and let it soak in. But I am comforted by the fact that there are more books to read — four more books, in fact, plus a short story prequel! Thank goodness.

As a side note, I firmly believe that September from this story, and January from Alix Harrow’s The Ten Thousand Doors of January are best friends in some parallel universe. Just so you know.

If, like me, you kept meaning to read this book but hadn’t yet, consider this your call to action. Go! Now! Read!