A Tangle of Gold by Jaclyn Moriarty (review)
Buy Issue for $25 at JHUP- A Tangle of Gold by Jaclyn Moriarty
Trade ed. ISBN 978-0-545-39740-7 $17.99
E-book ed. ISBN 978-0-545-77735-3 $17.99
Reviewed from galleys R* Gr. 7-10
In this stunning conclusion to the Colors of Madeleine series (A Corner of White, [End Page 318] BCCB 5/13, and The Cracks in the Kingdom, BCCB 2/13), Elliot Baranski has fallen through from the fantastical Kingdom of Cello into the real city of Cambridge. While seeking out Madeleine, the girl he has been corresponding with illegally between worlds, he stumbles across his long-lost father, and the two are ushered back into Cello by Keira, a girl who can see and open the cracks between the two worlds. In Cambridge, Keira works with Madeleine to try to bring the Royals of Cello back to their land; back in Cello, Elliot questions his political allegiances, eventually throwing his lot in with the Hostiles who want to overthrow the monarchy. A startling and clever conclusion bring together the quirky inhabitants of Cambridge with the figure of Isaac Newton and the citizens of Cello in a breathtaking climax that has metaphoric resonance far beyond the events of the tale. Elliot’s alliance with the Hostiles, for instance, offers a subtle yet brilliantly conceived exploration of the way people are tempted by fanatical belief; world building that locates Isaac Newton at the structural rift between an out-of-control world of magic and a disenchanted world of science is philosophically sophisticated while never losing the thread of story. While the resolution is, strictly speaking, näively utopian, it speaks to core desires in a complicated, broken world, making this an eminently satisfying conclusion for the heart.
