|
 Release
date: March 2009
Published in the USA by
Delacorte Books for Young Readers
Synopsis:
In
Mary's world there are simple truths:
·
The
Sisterhood always knows best.
·
The
Guardians will protect and serve.
·
The
Unconsecrated will never relent.
· And
you must always mind the fence that surrounds the village;
the fence that protects the village from the Forest of Hands
and Teeth.
But,
slowly, Mary’s truths are failing her. She’s learning things
she never wanted to know about the Sisterhood and its
secrets, and the Guardians and their power, and about the
Unconsecrated and their relentlessness. When the fence is
breached and her world is thrown into chaos, she must choose
between her village and her future—between the one she loves
and the one who loves her. And she must face the truth about
the Forest of Hands and Teeth. Could there be life outside a
world surrounded in so much death?
I have watched the excitement build up online
over Carrie Ryan’s debut, The Forest of Hands and Teeth and
couldn’t help but be swept up in the giddy atmosphere. I
knew the premise of the story, that she started writing it
as part of the Nanowrimo challenge back in 2006 and that it
was going to be something very different to hit the market –
the publishers were taking a big chance with this, which
indicated to me that TFOHAT was something very special
indeed.
Shelving my own preconceptions, I started
reading The Forest of Hands and Teeth the morning after I
received my copy. I was immediately struck by the author’s
intimate style of writing and the ease with which you are
effortlessly drawn into the lives of Mary and her closest
friends. The cast remains very small, serving to place you
at the heart of the action. You are very much aware of
Mary’s thoughts and feelings throughout the novel. The
author excels at revealing the true nature of the main
character in intense internal dialogue. We experience
Mary’s world deeply and truthfully. The internal dialogue
remains engaging which is a tremendous feat – Mary’s voice
is strong and unique. Her faith in the stories her mother
had told her never wavers – she holds onto the stories of
the ocean and the way the world was before the Return. You
quickly realise that these stories keep her sane – they are
her touchstone in a world ruled by the indomitable will of
the Sisterhood, of the constant terror of the Unconsecrated
living just on the other side of the fence that keeps the
village so secure. Mary is not without her faults – she
would be a pretty boring heroine if she was perfect, but she
displays courage and honour in a time when life turns its
back on her.
I’m not giving anything way by saying that
the village is breached by the Unconsecrated – Mary and her
friends go on the run, desperate to survive and uncertain of
their future. Here the strength of Carrie Ryan’s writing
comes to the fore. She explores sensitively how survivors
struggle to cope with the trauma of being the ones “that got
away”. She highlights the guilt and terror of their
situation. Where before the characters could pretend to
have a choice in their lives, they now had none – they have
to progress along the hidden paths to try and find
salvation. And what happens if they do find that salvation,
will they be safe and if they are safe, how long will it be
before the Unconsecrated find them and they have to run
again?
The tour de force in the novel is Mary. A
young woman of tremendous spirit, who questions her
situation, the life she is forced to lead, always yearning
to find out more, to find out what is beyond the Forest of
Hands and Teeth. Her relationship with the survivors from
her village is in constant flux as she is the one who
fights, the one demanding they move on, to find out what
happens next. They resent her and they admire her for
questioning their age-old belief. They see her as selfish
and recalcitrant and probably they are right – but in this
situation, in order for them to survive, they need a Mary to
push them to their limits.
The novel is an astonishing piece of work.
The conclusion happens too quickly – you are so wrapped in
their world, that you are reluctant to leave it behind, for
all its terror and horror. The love-triangle is woven
deftly into the fabric of the story and the characters
demand your empathy. I sincerely hope that there is a
follow-up novel in the works as Mary is such an amazing
character that it would be a shame to not travel with her
some more. The world post-apocalyptic world created by the
author rings true and again, it needs to be trotted out for
another story.
I would highly recommend The Forest of Hands
and Teeth as a phenomenal read. It is a novel of tremendous
spirit and a great piece of fiction with some good action
scenes to keep the adrenalin flowing. It is released in
the States in March 2009.
You can find Carrie Ryan’s site at:
http://www.carrieryan.com/
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