Title: The Girl in Red Author: Christina Henry Reviewer: Mark J. Palm Published: June 18, 2019 Authors have been turning to fairy tales for inspiration for a long time now. It probably started a week after the Brothers Grimm first published the oral folk-tales that they edited and published under their names in 1812. And why not? Those early stories that we now think of being for children were essentially cautionary tales with a lot of room for interpretation. Which brings us to The Girl in Red, by Christina Henry. First off, Ms. Henry doesn't fool around. Her novel is about Cordelia, whom everyone calls Red. It takes place in a time that feels like now, “ Somewhere in an American forest,” to quote the author. There is a plague, that starts with a cough, which is decimating the population and causing civilization to buckle. Red is a teenage girl, an amputee with a prosthetic, and a rabid fan of horror novels and films. It turns out that the one thing she is prepared for is the Apocalypse. At the first hint of trouble, Red prepares a go-bag filled with necessary supplies that never leaves her side, much to the chagrin of her parents and her older brother. When it becomes clear to her family that they must leave their house, Red suggests one obvious destination; her Grandmother’s house, a journey of a few hundred miles, by foot through the forest. The problem is that there are plenty of ‘wolves’ on the way, such as soldiers looking to round up people and deposit them in ‘camps’ for their ‘safety’, along with militias and the sort of crazies that seem to crawl out from under the rocks whenever the veneer of civilization start to disappear. That is basically the whole story.
It’s not the whole plot, but I’m not going to spill that. Spoilers, remember? It’s a straightforward story, but that is its real strength. Instead of getting bogged down in world-building and scientific explanations Ms. Henry hues her story down to the bone, and it works like gangbusters. Every conversation, every decision is fraught with significance and makes the tension nigh unbearable. The fates of Red, her family and the people she comes across becomes high drama because there are no frills behind which to hide. A lot of that feeling comes from the character or Red. Intelligent, practical, dogged, and determined to a fault, she makes for a wonderful lead. She is also stubborn, opinionated and a living breathing character brought to vivid life. The story is told in alternating chapters, ‘after’ and ‘before’, and the book opens with a harrowing ‘after’ chapter that shoves us headfirst into the story as Red has to deal with a ‘wolf’ that almost certainly wants her dead. It’s a gripping opening that sets a tone that never flags or falters until the very satisfying end. The characters are solid, and the writing is taut and terse and the story is as tight and taut as a bowstring. In case you couldn’t tell, I loved this novel and encourage you to get so you can join Red on her trip to her grandmother’s house. It’s a trip well worth taking. |
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July 2020
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