Title: Triple RippleAuthor: Brigid Lowry
Release Date: 1st September 2011
Publisher: Allen and Unwin
Glory is sent to work in the Royal Palace, where the queen is planning a grand ball and a bad tempered princess is sorting through jewels and tiaras. And, unknown to Glory, the threads of her destiny are coming together.
Nova is reading the fairytale… Fairytales are not usually her thing but right now she’s feeling a bit messy and lost. Her best friend has gone away and she has no idea why bitchy Dylan is hassling her.
Can the Writer make everything turn out happily ever after? Will the princess find true love? Will Glory escape a secret curse? And can Nova smooth out the lumps and bumps in her life?
Running alongside each other, Brigid Lowry writes three tales. In real life, the Writer struggles to develop the plot. Within the fairy tale, Glory the Princess’ Maid has to break a curse while dealing with the demands of working in the palace and the Reader of the tale, Nova has to deal with real life and coping with being bullied.
It isn’t just the difference in font that make the separate sections of this tale so apparent but Lowry’s skill in creating different voices. The characters of the Reader and Writer are very convincing as well as entertaining and in a completely different genre from the fairy tale. The Writer makes us constantly aware that she has created the fictional worlds of the tale, both Glory’s and Nova’s and so the text is really cleverly written. At times, the novel is re-written and so we are given what could have happened in the tale as well as the Writer’s final decisions.
The tale of the Writer is probably the most interesting because it manifests itself through the tale of the Reader and the fairy tale. However, it is also the least developed tale in that there is no actual plot, more a collection of thoughts and the ending of her writing tale ends with the finish of the book.
Nova’s tale is strange in that although she does get a positive ending, there are many questions left unanswered. She finally thinks she is working things out with Dylan, who has been bullying her and she has dreams about a boy she met who was sat in a tree. From the Writer, we know there could have been many different paths for Nova and so it is strange when presented with the final outcome.
Similarly, Glory’s fairy tale ending could have been different but we are given a much neater rounding off of the tale in this case. I expected the fairy tale aspect of the tale to be the most prominent and although it is in relation to how much detail we are given, I find the other two tales more emotionally compelling.
This book is a must read for anyone with an interest in reading and writing. It was the fairy tale aspect that drew me in but the other tales were much more interesting and it is the Reader and the Writer that give the tale depth. There are funny aspects to this book as well as serious, emotional insights into the characters and overall it is a well-rounded novel. Without wanting to seem critical in the slightest, I feel this novel was possibly a way for the author to show off her story-telling talent!
5/5 Brilliant use of triple tales!
With special thanks to Frances Lincoln for sending me a copy of the book.
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