Thursday, October 21, 2021

Patience and Not-Forsaken, by Alix E. Harrow (author), Jennifer Nittoso (narrator)

Audible Studios, January 2017

Patience Not-Forsaken Gravely's mother died in an asylum, suffering from what sounds like bipolar disorder. Patience herself has been diagnosed as having "a nervous disposition." When her father inherits Gravely doctor who treated her mother and is treating her recommends that a quiet, rural location will be good for Patience.

It's the 1950s, and Patience is "difficult." She loves superhero comics in general, and Wonder Woman in particular, to the grim disapproval of her father. In Gravely House, she meets a girl in the mirror. The girl has no name, and Patience gives her one of her own, Not-Forsaken. But who is Not-Forsaken, and why is she in the mirror?

Patience adopts a stray cat who doesn't like Not-Forsaken. When Patience has friends in school, Not-Forsaken shows signs of jealousy. This is most clear when Patience falls in love with Lori, her classmate. But this is a love that, in the 1950s, there is no safe space for, and first loves do end.

Patience is ready to abandon the real world and go into the mirror world that Not-Forsaken promises her is perfect.

There's a truly unexpected twist coming, and the cat is a heroic character.

Recommended.

I bought this audio novella.

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