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Loading... Mrs. Perivale and the Blue Fire Crystalby Dash Hoffman
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Fantasy.
Fiction.
Mythology.
Humor (Fiction.)
"People your age belong at home." Seventy-three year old Mrs. Perivale is told when she tries to volunteer. With her son grown and gone, and her community turning their backs on her, the gravity of no longer being needed sinks her spirits deeply. She wonders if she has outlived her usefulness until a mystical little creature sneaks into Alice Perivale's home and begs her to come with him; there is a prophecy about her, and she must help save his world! Finding herself in a magical place she had no idea existed, committed to a dangerous mission far more vital than helping out in her neighborhood, Alice dusts off her courage and bravery, rediscovering the feisty, sassy, powerhouse woman she is deep inside. She is determined to find the stolen Blue Fire Crystal before the imbalance between elements destroys all of the magical land of Coreve. Together with her extraordinary family of six cats and her skeptical-yet-devoted butler Henderson, she takes on the tremendous challenge. With time running out and the world falling to pieces, Alice's precious companions are pulled away from her, and she is faced with impossible choices. Does she choose what she wants most of all, does she rescue her family, or does she save the world that will not survive without her? No library descriptions found. |
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Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)813.54Literature English (North America) American fiction 20th Century 1945-1999RatingAverage:
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For one, the author changed the title character's age from 85 to 60. I'm 71, and I assure you, none of the 60 yr olds I know are not as helpless as the author portrays her. Eighty-five, I could almost buy it, but 60? Most women I know in their sixties are still working. Then he makes her terribly shy and put upon by younger folk who things she's helpless. She (at 60!) is refused a volunteer position in her neighborhood because she is seen as too old. How old is this author and where are they getting this ideas? Anyone in the volunteer world knows that little old retired ladies are the lifeblood of the volunteer system. They wouldn't be snubbing her, they'd be rolling out the red carpet. I kept thinking the pseudonymised author had learned everything they knew about the elderly by watching old Mrs. Marple dramatisations.
As to the plot, it's a very clever conceit, I'll hand the author that. But although lip service is paid to the title character's status and the Chosen One, she doesn't really do much except inspire other characters. I swear author gives her cats more to do. And no particular reason for her to be a Chosen One, either.
If someone else wants to take a stab, this is the setup from social media: "...I would read the hell out of a series of a chosen eighty-five-year-old woman who goes on epic journeys throughout a dangerous and magical land, armed only with a cane and her stab-tastic knitting needles, accompanied by her six cats and a skittish-yet-devoted orderly who makes sure she takes her pills on time." ( )