Things Happen and once they start happening you pretty much just have to hold on for dear life and see where they drop you when they stop.
A while ago I read What I was by Meg Rosoff and I was enchanted by Rosoff’s writing style, there was one passage that I will never forget (ever) but the plot itself was weak and its magic faded away as the narration progressed. I approached How I live now fearing a similar response, I shouldn’t have worried, I loved it.
From Goodreads:
Fifteen-year-old Daisy is sent from Manhattan to England to visit her aunt and cousins she’s never met: three boys near her age, and their little sister. Her aunt goes away on business soon after Daisy arrives. The next day bombs go off as London is attacked and occupied by an unnamed enemy. As power fails, and systems fail, the farm becomes more isolated. Despite the war, it’s a kind of Eden, with no adults in charge and no rules, a place where Daisy’s uncanny bond with her cousins grows into something rare and extraordinary. But the war is everywhere, and Daisy and her cousins must lead each other into a world that is unknown in the scariest, most elemental way.
The writing is superb, I immersed myself in the streaming consciousness of Daisy’s narration and breathed after 10 hours or so.
When Daisy described nature I could feel the touch and the smell of it, when Daisy described her auntie’s house I was right there, the food made me hungry, I rejoiced for her love and suffered for her loss.
Daisy is a sharp sarcastic new yorker whose only weapon against oblivion is food-deprivation, when she visits her cousins in England she senses that everything is different there, she lets herself be one of them, she loves them, little Piper who is impossible to resist (I smiled every time she appeared on page) and her cousin Edmond, who she is irremediably attracted to.
Daisy is overwhelmed by their attention, their intensity and pureness:
Edmond : “he turns the car up onto this grass and then drives across to a sign that says Do Not Enter and of course he Enters and then he jogs left across a ditch and suddenly we’re out on the highway”
Piper: “...the presence of Piper with her big eyes and pure soul made hims feel like all he wanted was a chance to die to protect her” “Piper could smell wild garlic and onions in a meadow and she came home with armfuls of the stuff” “I came across Piper deep in conversation with Jet one afternoon and when I asked what they were talking about she shrugged and said Dog Things”
Isaac: “At times I thought he was more animal than human. For instance if you were walking in town on market day and there were tons of people milling around, you would never have to worry about losing him in the crowd even if you totally forget we was there and got separated for ages”
And then War Happens.
And Rosoff is super smart because Daisy’s voice stays fresh and consistent. This is not so much about the war itself, it’s about Daisy and Piper, how they survive the war and how it affects them.
The story is simple, there is very little action (and a relationship of sexual nature between cousins. It didn’t make me uncomfortable) , the ending is gut wrenching, it’s perfect, it filled my heart with tenderness, compassion, understanding. This is what love is all about.
You won’t read another story like this, not in a while.
Other opinions:
My grade: 5/5
Em
Emily and Her Little Pink Notes 