A Girl Made of Air
“Everyone is the star of their own show, performing for the passing, faceless crowds. We are all clowns.” On the ground, she was invisible to everyone in the circus, even her parents. In the air, she became the star of the show. It’s thanks to Serendipity Wilson, a performer with orange hair so bright it lights up a room, that our nameless star becomes the greatest funambulist who ever lived. Serendipity gives the budding star, nicknamed Mouse, something she never had before: belonging. But when Serendipity’s child is lost, in part due to Mouse’s actions, the performer will devote her life to make things right. As the life of a retired performer is retold through her adult voice using stories recounted to a reporter, a post-WWII circus raises its tents once again via the taps of Mouse’s typewriter.
“All we can do is perform our lives as gloriously as possible.” Sometimes self-reflective, sometimes a revival of feelings in diary entries or letters, the story unfolds both in the present and past. Readers journey through tales of Manx folklore and magic, Mouse’s euphoric feeling of being on the tightrope, and the emotional drama that unfolds when Mouse’s longing to keep Serendipity’s love to herself leads to tragedy. Unveiling a person’s mistakes through words, Hetherington will grip readers’ hearts with her honest, poignant prose and her vivid characters. There are moments of joy but also deep darkness that Mouse must endure in her quest to rectify a mistake. While not quite a fantasy, A Girl Made of Air is a recollection of events through stories. Its enchantment lies within the girl who believes in the magic of the stories she’s grown up with. Just as they were once given to her, now the stories are ours to care for.
