I, Coriander (original 2005; edition 2007)

Born in 1643 to a wealthy London merchant and his beautiful wife, Coriander Hobbie was raised in a loving and affectionate home, knowing only happiness until the day a mysteriously alluring pair of silver shoes was delivered to her house beside the Thames. This strange gift, which her mother refused to allow her to wear, introduced the first note of disquiet into Coriander's life, and was the beginning of a series of strange events that would bring her great heartache, and involve her in dangerous adventures in both the mortal world and in the fairy world existing alongside it. Having lost her mother early in the book, Coriander moves back and forth between the two worlds, contending with an abusive and scheming Puritan stepmother - the horrible Maude Leggs, ugly, ignorant, and shrill, is seen as a wise choice for her father, whose Royalist sympathies had put him at risk from the repressive forces of the Commonwealth - her stepmother's maniacal preacher friend, Arise Fell; and the evil Fairy Queen Rosmore, whose cunning schemes are all aimed at stealing the powerful shadow that once belonged to Coriander's mother...

This work of historical fantasy, which alternates between Commonwealth and Restoration England, and a magical fairy world existing alongside our own, was chosen as the October selection for The Children's Fiction Book-Club to which I belong, and I am very happy to have finally read it, as I have owned a copy since it was first published in 2005. That said, while I found I, Coriander an enjoyable read in many ways - I thought the writing itself was lovely, and that Coriander made for an engaging heroine - it had some significant problems. From a storytelling perspective, I thought the sections of the book that occurred in the mortal world were far more convincing than those that occurred in the fairy world. Rosmore, for all that she is the true author of Coriander's misery, is never as fully realized a character as Maud, while Coriander's romance with Tycho had a distinctly tacked-on feeling to it, when compared to the relationship between Hester and Gabriel Appleby.

Unfortunately, while Maud Leggs and Arise Fell were marvelously realized villains, from the storytelling perspective - just the sort of repulsive characters one loves to hate! - their depiction raises troubling questions of historical inaccuracy and bias. I have no quarrel with a critical depiction of the Puritans - they were often zealots, bringing persecution to bear upon those with whom they disagreed, and their notion of culture (what was and wasn't 'godly') was appalling - but Gardner's aim is more than a little off here, potentially leaving young readers with some mistaken ideas. Like many other Reform-based Protestant sects (as opposed to both Catholics and Anglicans of this period), the Puritans placed great emphasis on the individual's relationship with the divine, unmediated by the clergy. To encourage this, they promoted education - the idea being that everyone should be able to read the Bible for themselves - and female literacy rose under their aegis. The exact opposite impression is created in the story, however, through the depiction of Maud and Arise, and their hostility toward women learning. Similarly, although the Puritans arose in response to a worldview every bit as repressive as their own, this is not the impression created by the story at all, which leaves readers with the impression that the monarchy (jubilantly welcomed back at the end of the book) was somehow benevolent.

I don't know that these glaring errors really ruined the book for me - although I did laugh out loud, when reading the historical afterword, to see Quakers described as a 'radical sect' and classified with the Puritans! - but then, I feel equipped to perceive them. It troubles me that young readers, perhaps not as informed about this period, might not be. For this reason, I really wavered in my rating. Three stars represents my enjoyment of the writing. If I were rating for historical accuracy, on the other hand, I might give the book only one. ( )

An interesting story of magic in Cromwell’s England. I liked that the characters did actually seem part of their time. They weren’t just modern people in another setting. And yet, Coriander is very spunky and strong as a character. (March 2008) ( )

This was a lovely little fairy-tale story. I can just imagine reading this to little girls, who will inevitably beg for just one more chapter before having to go to bed. It's so easy to imagine said little girls dreaming of being a fairy princess, even though this isn't your typical fairy princess story.

From the very start, this story reminded me strongly of Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke. Except, this story was much more entertaining, and fun, and concise. And not a single footnote!

There was a lot of stuff to love in this story. It catered to my love of historical fiction. I always enjoy well-written stories that are set back in time a ways. Generally, the further back the better. I love immersing myself in a different time with different mentalities and ideas and concepts, and I especially love it when there is a strong character I can identify with that's going with me.

Coriander was absolutely strong, and I loved her. She never let anyone take her dignity and identity away from her, even in a time when women were considered property and were thought to be nothing more than feeble-minded breeding house-keepers. Coriander refused to let herself be put into that particular box, and I loved her spunk for it.

This book also placed a lot of emphasis on religious and political persecution. This always interests me, because I'm a "Live and Let Live" kind of girl. I don't care what you believe, as long as you don't try to foist that belief on me against my will. I guess this makes me a little morbidly curious to read about people who just have to "cleanse", "convert", "fix" the "unbelievers" around them. I was really kind of fascinated with Maud Leggs and Arise Fell in this story because of that. Of course, they couldn't care less whether you believed. They just derived a sick pleasure out of the conversion process.

I definitely enjoyed reading this story. It was interesting and fun, and was a well-blended mix of history and fairy-tale. I think it would have been 5 star quality if it had wrapped just a few things up a little better, like who Medlar was, and how the time system worked, etc, but I think this is a solid 4 star book, even lacking those things. I would definitely recommend it for anyone looking for a light, fun read. ( )

If I could, I would probably give this one 3.5 stars but I'm going to have to settle on 3. This wasn't really as good as I expected it to be! I quite liked the premise and it looked like it might be really good. I enjoyed the first half a lot- lovely writing and interesting characters. I felt it started to drag after Coriander went away, though. Once she came back, I just thought it never really got going again. It wasn't terrible though and it kept me interested until the very last page. [a:Sally Gardner|145946|Sally Gardner|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1211445105p2/145946.jpg] has obviously got a serious gift for writing and I can see why someone would adore this book. ( )

YA read for able readers who understand the fairy tale and faery tale tropes. Set in 17thC London during the "Commonwealth" of Oliver Cromwell, thru' the Restoration. Time travel might be confusing to some. Baddies are awesome - Arise Fell, what a name!
Happy ending which deserves some discussion. Great Reading Group pick for able readers, some historical background necessary to help with understanding. ( )