In the Night Garden

My love for this book is in direct opposition to how long it took me to read it. I heard about it years ago, and I knew that I had to read it. Fairy tales and nested tales and Catherynne Valente are three of my favorite things. There was no question that I would love it.

But other books always seemed to take precedence. And then the pandemic happened and Valente started reading this book a bit at a time in a nightly video. So I bought it, fully intending to read along with her. Except that in March of 2020, my life was even crazier than most peoples and committing to a 45 minute video every day was out of the question. 

And so the book sat on my shelf for nearly two years. I knew I would love it. I also knew I'd want to be able to sink into it. And I could never quite find enough time to devote to it.

Finally, at the beginning of this year, I decided to start watching Valente's videos. They were great, filled with behind the scenes info about the book itself. Not to mention the surreal peak into the early days of the pandemic. But it wasn't long before my inability to consistently watch the videos caught up with me. I got distracted by other media, and by the time I worked my way back to this book, I'd forgotten what was going on.

So I started all over again, this time just reading it. At least the videos had provided me with the hook I needed to sink into the book. And then a curious thing happened. I started reading slower and slower. Not because I didn't the book. Rather, I didn't want it to end. I just wanted to stay in this marvelous world.

The good news is that there's a sequel, which I will be diving into shortly. Because I loved this book. I loved it in a way that I can barely talk about. The tales dive deep. The go off on tangents and circle back around again. Characters tell their own stories then show up on the edges of other stories. It's all so marvelously done. I wish I'd found this book in high school, when I could have given it the slavish devotion it deserves. I can only hope my kids fall as deeply in love with it someday.


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