Swallow’s Dance
Prolific children’s author Wendy Orr beckons us back 4,000 years to Minoan Greece, when mortals believed in many gods, and omens, prayer and sacrifice were part of daily life. Leira of the Swallow Clan enters her “Learning” year—her destiny to become a saffron-gatherer and serve the goddess, as her mother did before her, so becoming a conduit for mortals to the island goddess. When the Earth Mother begins her trembling, toppling walls and temple pillars, Leira’s Mama suffers a serious concussion. Her body recovers, but her spirit never returns. Leira, Mama, and childhood nurse Nunu sail to Crete seeking wise-women to restore Mama’s spirit. When Thera’s (Santorini) volcano finally erupts, it buries the island and sends tsunamis and ash to Crete. Already viewed with suspicion as out-of-favour priest-folk, Leira and her little family flee. Leira falls from favoured child to outcast to slave. As the formal ritual of her life is surpassed by the need for survival, her resilience grows. She is hungry, dirty, cold, and homeless, but remains gracious, brave, and willing to sacrifice. 4000 years of civilisation leave the world facing similar hardships—refugee crises, brutality, prejudice, and hate; the people of the time were not so unlike ourselves.
The “Isle of Swallows” is the author’s name for Thera, which suffered a devastating volcanic eruption in 1625 BCE. This stunning middle-grade novel is poetic, lyrical, and interspersed with elegant free-verse through which readers walk in Leira’s footsteps and share her many heartaches. Nevertheless, from the residual gray ash of the goddess’s wrath, the colour of new life springs as Leira discovers a new skill. Fascinating author’s notes entice readers to seek further information about the Santorini archeological dig. Captivating throughout, this story reverberates long past the turning of its last page.
