Illuminations
Magical Brushstrokes
Author: T Kingfisher (pseudonym of Ursula Vernon)
Year first published: 2022
Original Language: English
Genre: Fantasy
While I don’t think you should judge a book by its cover, you can certainly be enticed by its cover! That’s why people hire people to professionally design book covers, they’re meant to convey in a glance the general vibe of the book. And the cover is what drew me to it. It’s such a lovely color, and I love birds (especially corvids).
This tale is about magical paintings, called illuminations, and the artists who create them. Our main character is a young girl named Rosa, a ten year old member of Studio Mandolini, a family of renowned illumination painters, and a mysterious box she finds in the basement with a painting of a crow on it.
I really liked this book. I didn't have any idea what was going to happen or where it would go, and it didn't end up being a big grand adventure, and not everything has to be. I started this book right after finishing The Last Unicorn, and while not as big in scope, it was no less big in story. While the intended audience seems to be adults, this would not be out of place in the young adult section (I’d wager that a clever preteen of Rosa’s age would possibly enjoy it as well). And to be honest, I love that its written more like a book for younger audiences. Sometimes as an adult its nice to be reminded of what it was like being a kid, getting underfoot while just wanting to help the grown-ups.
A large portion of the story is confined to Rosa's family home of Studio Mandolini, a large building with conjoined bays rather than regular bedrooms and a separate workspace, with their general mindset being that it's best to live and breathe your art all of the time. It seems to work well for them in specific. Occasionally, we get glimpses of other parts of the town and what illuminations they have there, or her friend Serena's room. On that note, I like the depiction of Rosa and Serena’s friendship. They’re both young, and prone to the brattiness that all children are, but when push comes to shove, they are friends, and friends help out when it matters the most.
One of the things that stuck with me was Rosa being jealous of her friend getting her very first illumination commission, and how she’s jealous, but remembers later that her family always taught her not to be jealous of a rival studio getting commissions. Some days, they get the job, others its another studio, and sometimes they even work together on a large project like the sewer mural. And it made me think about how I have, in the past, been jealous of fellow artists and writers, seeing them as competition I am meant to overcome, that if they’re better than me, no one will like what I have to make. It was a lesson drilled into me during teenhood that I never really shook off until later in life. After all, who will be the first to lend you their pencil, their paint, their dictionary, if not your fellow artist?
The heart of this tale is all about family, and the bonds of love tying them together. I got really frustrated at Rosa’s grandma blaming her for the drawings on the walls, but I nearly cried when they realized it couldn’t have been her and apologized, making sure she felt loved and understood after making such a mistake.
This isn’t a story about big grand wizard battles, but about commonplace, humble, yet grand domestic magic, wards to help milk stay fresh, or that keep mice out of your cheese, or that help your bread rise. Sometimes the illuminations are tiny gryphons on jar lids, sometimes they’re enormous, powerful wards that require multiple artists to complete. Its a story of home and your loved ones.
Review posted 2023/10/23