Gullstruck Island - Book Review

Gullstruck Island
By Frances Hardinge
Macmillan Children’s Books
2009


Dedication: To my sister Sophie, a truer traveler than I shall ever be, who saved lives when others were seeing sights, and who brought back tropical diseases and broken bones instead of photos and souvenir hats

Target Age Group: Girls, 10 – 15 years old

Must Read
Good Read
Should Read

Synopsis

13 year old Arilou is a member of the Lace tribe, the indigenous tribe of Gullstruck Island, a tribe that is not trusted by any of the other settlers who live on the island.

But Arilou is also a Lost, which means that she can send her senses away from her body to see or hear events elsewhere on the island. A Lost is revered, and people come from miles around to see Arilou. Their visits provide her poverty-stricken village of Hollow Beasts with enough food and goods to survive, and keep them safe from the suspicious whispers of the surrounding non-Lace villagers.

But there’s a problem. Maybe Arilou isn’t Lost at all, maybe she’s really just an imbecile, something her entire village of Hollow Beasts suspects.

Arilou is cared for by her younger sister, 12 year old Hathin. Hathin interprets Arilou’s mutterings for the people who come to visit.

Life at Hollow Beasts takes a radical turn when Raglan Skein, a Lost Inspector, comes to the village to test Arilou. If he finds that Arilou is not a Lost, then Hollow Beasts will not survive. The entire village is depending on Hathin to deceive Inspector Skein so that Arilou passes the test.

But tragedy strikes during Inspector Skein’s visit. Is it murder? Natural death? Coincidence? Or conspiracy?

Suddenly, Hathin and Arilou are plunged into chaos and become the central figures of island-wide hunt. Because if Arilou really is a Lost, she might know what the truth is.


Book Review

Gullstruck Island is a slow-starting book. The first few chapters spend a considerable amount of time describing the history of the island, the people who live on it, the relationships between its inhabitants and the languages they speak. It goes into great detail about each group’s customs and habits, which are vastly different. And it introduces a number of characters – a LOT of characters, whom I had trouble keeping straight.

I started reading Gullstruck Island right after Eon Dragoneye Reborn, which captured me from the first page, and I was pretty disappointed at this book’s slow pace.

But I’m glad I stayed with it. Once past the history lesson, the story is rich, complex and surprising. For me, the true enjoyment of the book started around Chapter 8. After Chapter 12, I was hooked and found it hard to put the book down.

The complexity of Gullstruck Island’s story is similar to Ms. Hardinge’s first book, Fly By Night (which remains one of my favorites), in that there is more than one force at play, and the bad seed at the root of the trouble is not at all what I expected. If you’re willing to wade through a muddish start, then this book delivers a very good story.

Characters

Hathin – 12 years old, and the heroine of the story. She is Arilou’s little sister, whose sole purpose for living to is to take care of her sister and perpetuate the belief that Arilou is a Lost. Hathin is a Lace, with a trace of pirate in her ancestry.

Arilou – 13 years old, and the Lady Lost of Hollow Beasts. Although Arilou showed signs of being a Lost as an infant, they disappeared without a trace. In spite of years or trying, Hathin has never been able to make sense of Arilou’s mutterings.

Raglan Skein – The inspector who comes to Hollow Beasts to test Arilou. He is a Lost, of mixed heritage, but more of the Cavalcaste blood than Lace. He is also on the Lost Council, the body that governs all the Lost. He fears a dangerous conspiracy. Is that why he’s testing Arilou? Or is there some other reason?

Minchard Prox – The official governmental aide to Inspector Skein, of Cavalcaste descent. Like many of the Cavalcaste clans, he is extremely suspicious of the Lace. He wants to test Arilou and leave Hollow Beasts as soon as possible. But fate has other plans for him.

Whish – A member of the Lace tribe in Hollow Beasts. Whish holds a grudge against Hathin & Arilou’s family. Is it enough for her to betray them?

Larsh – A Lace master craftsman. Like all Lace in Hollow Beasts, he knows that Arilou may not be a Lost. But he too has a secret that has been well-hidden.

Therrot – Whish’s son. He left Hollow Beasts two years earlier on a revenge quest, persuaded by Hathin’s oldest sister, and has not been seen or heard from since.

Milady Page – She is the Lady Lost in the nearby village of Sweetwater. She is Cavelcaste, and constantly sending her senses out and returning with news from other villages. Like others, she is suspicious of the Lace, and she tells them she's keeping an eye on them. Is is possible that she know about Arilou?

Jimboly – Not Lace, not Cavalcaste, but a mixture of other races, Jimboly is a dentist. She pulls teeth for free, keeping the teeth themselves as payment. Unlike most non-Lace, she actually smiles, and when she smiles, it’s impossible not to like her. But why does she keep a bird tethered to her at all times?

Brendril – An Ashwalker, descended from the tribe of Dancing Steam. They get their powers by dying their clothes with the ashes of the dead. They are deadly hunters who never, ever give up, once they’ve been given a commission to hunt a murderer.

Dance – Leader of the Reckoning, a band of Lost who have taken revenge oaths when the Cavalcaste government fails to provide justice to Lace. Therrot left Hollow Beasts to join the Reckoning to seek revenge for his little sister’s death.

Superior Pedron Sun-Sedrollo – The Cavalcaste Superior of the town of Jealousy, whose sole purpose in life is to make sure his dead ancestors have everything they need. But what does this have to do with the Lace or the Lost?