Weekend Review: Spin the Dawn

 

Spin the Dawn / Elizabeth Lim
NY: Knopf, c2019.
392 p.

This week we have a YA novel to talk about. This is the first book in a series, featuring Maya, a young woman and expert sewist & designer, who poses as a boy to enter the Emperor's competition to become royal tailor.

The book is set somewhere in the past, in a fantasy world based on China. There are wars that have destroyed many families, including Maya's -- her two older brothers have died in the fighting, while the youngest has returned home unable to walk. Thus when the Emperor requests that the son of this family of tailors attend the trials, Maya (who is the only one in her family to have learned her father's expertise anyhow) turns herself into her brother. 

It's a fascinating set-up, with an interesting main character & a dramatic situation. The world created here is convincing, with lots of court intrigue to drive the story. But what I was most interested in was the sewing competition! Someone called it "Project Runway with magic" and that really does summarize the first half of the book. The details of the last minute, elaborate projects that Maya and the other tailors are asked to make are described fully, and the rivalries between the participants are clear. The planning process Maya goes through to come up with her ideas is also shown, which I thought was great. Of course she does have the help of her grandmother's magic shears...

I really enjoyed the build-up and the competition part of this book. But then Maya is sent on a quest for 3 impossible materials for a gown for the Emperor's fiancee, inexplicably being helped by the royal magician. He's an ancient, nearly immortal figure bound to the Emperor, but of course he's also young and handsome in appearance & for no good reason defies the Emperor to accompany Maya. Apparently he has seen through her disguise & fallen in love with her. Why? Who knows, it comes from nowhere and doesn't really convince a reader. Most of the second half has them mooning over each other while they are on a dangerous quest, and I am afraid I found it a bit tedious. There is not much sewing or designing going on even though it seemed so vital to Maya earlier. 

And because it's a series it doesn't really tie up in a conclusive manner. But I'm not sure I will continue with this series. The first half of the book was very strong & unique, but it fell into cliched YA territory halfway through, at least for me. But if you want to read about some fabulous glass slippers & magically enhanced silk painted gowns, give it a go; you'll enjoy those parts if you sew as well. 

Literary Sewing Circle: the Summer Edition!

It is time for a new round of the Literary Sewing Circle! This time we're going have a slightly extended summer edition -- lots of time to read and sew, until the end of August.


I am happy to announce that our group read this summer will be:

The New Moon's Arms by Nalo Hopkinson

Summary

First it's her mother's missing gold brooch. Then, a blue and white dish she hasn't seen in years. Followed by an entire grove of cashew trees. When objects begin appearing out of nowhere, Calamity knows that the special gift she has not felt since childhood has returned-her ability to find lost things. Calamity, a woman as contrary as the tides around her Caribbean island home, is confronting two of life's biggest dramas.

First is the death of her father, who raised her alone until a pregnant Calamity rejected him when she was sixteen years old. The second drama: she's starting menopause. Now when she has a hot flash and feels a tingling in her hands, she knows it's a lost object calling to her. Then she finds something unexpected: a four-year-old boy washes up on the shore, his dreadlocked hair matted with shells. Calamity decides to take the orphaned child into her care, which brings unexpected upheaval into her life and further strains her relationship with her adult daughter. Fostering this child will force her to confront all the memories of her own childhood-and the disappearance of her mother so many years before. 

I read this book a few years ago. You can find my original review over at my book blog, The Indextrious Reader.  This is an older title, but it's well suited for our summer reading as it features a Caribbean island, a prickly main character and magical elements that will engage your imagination! It's a little harder to find but I hope that everyone will be able to locate a copy and read along. Our schedule is five weeks of posts & book information and chat, and then we'll have a little longer to make our projects, until the end of August. 

About Nalo

Nalo Hopkinson was born in Jamaica and has lived in Guyana, Trinidad, and Canada. The daughter of a poet/playwright and a library technician, she has won numerous awards including the John W. Campbell Award, the World Fantasy Award, and Canada's Sunburst Award for literature of the fantastic. Her award-winning short fiction collection Skin Folk was selected for the 2002 New York Times Summer Reading List and was one of the New York Times Best Books of the Year. Hopkinson is also the author of The New Moon's Arms, The Salt Roads, Midnight Robber, and Brown Girl in the Ring. She is a professor of creative writing at the University of California, Riverside, and splits her time between California, USA, and Toronto, Canada.

phto by David Findlay, c. 2016

This book is available for purchase in both hard copy and ebook formats.  

You can find the ebook at:

Indigo.ca

Kobo.com

Amazon.ca

Amazon.com

Amazon.co.uk

Amazon.com.au

Barnes & Noble

And the hard copy at:

Amazon.ca

Amazon.com

Amazon.co.uk

ABE Books

Biblio

IndieBound 

Or, of course, check your local library!

*************************************************************

How does the Literary Sewing Circle work? We read a book together, discuss it, and then make something inspired by our reading. As long as you can point out what inspired you from your reading, even if just a sentence, you can share your makes in our final roundup!

Anyone can join, and you can sew, knit, quilt or embroider - any textile art that you like doing - to participate. This is a reading/sewing circle, very low-key; no prizes or competitions here, just reading and sewing for fun. Join in, and share!

Literary Sewing Circle Schedule

June 22 - Announcement & Introduction

June 29 - Inspiration post - possible patterns

July 6 - Author interview 

July 13  - Halfway mark: book talk

July 20 - Inspiration post

July 27 - Final Post: book discussion wrap up & posting of project linkup

(Project Linkup will then be live until the end of August for you to come back and post your finished project)

This time around we'll discuss the book any time you wish; put your questions and comments in the comment field on any #LiterarySewingCircle post (try to avoid spoilers until closer to the end though). We'll have an official discussion post halfway through to really dig into things but feel free to talk about your reading at any time!