Chime-Franny Billingsley

Chime
Franny Billingsley
Dial (Penguin), Mar 17 2011, $17.99
ISBN: 9780803735521

In the village of Stratton in Swampsea lives Briony, a person filled with self loathing. She blames herself for hurting her identical twin Rose and turning her into a child-like female. Briony holds herself culpable for the flood that swamped the parsonage where she lives with her sister and their father the pastor and the death of Stepmother who kept her secrets including the fact that she is a witch.

Loaded with overwhelming guilt and remorse, Briony assumes she is a witch too as she can communicate with the Old Ones who haunt the marshes as only witches and the Chime Child are capable of doing so. She also knows she is a witch because she casts spells as only a witch can.

Briony’s life radically changes when Eldric arrives in the village; he is body beautiful enhanced by his golden hair. He looks deep inside Briony and sees only goodness. Fearing how much he knows about her with his penetrating yellowish eyes that slowly reveal her zillions secrets including her being a witch; a person the villagers woud execute if they knew. Eldric remains resolute in his need to know what makes Briony tick so that he can persuade her she is not a monster.

Chime is an enchanting fantasy filled with magic, monsters, and a romance that breaks down defense mechanism barriers created over the years. Briony is a vulnerable person who feels deep emotions, a non-witch trait, that she conceals to hold back her deep rooted mental traumas. Told in the first person by Briony, her self loathing is a two edged sword as her self-hatred can overwhelm the reader and plot but also makes her a fascinating and unique protagonist in a refreshing tale.

Harriet Klausner