Review: Careful what you wish for.......
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 05 19, 2014
Brazilian author Eleanor T. Beaty brings to her writing the sense of magical realism so often associated with South American art and literature. Born in Brazil but having lived in the United States, Switzerland and Argentina, she has witnessed several cultures that she successfully weaves into her novel. Having gained her degree in English Literature she now devotes her time to her chosen specialty - Young Adult Paranormal stories - from her home in Brazil. Spirituality and magic concepts come easily to her: ` All my books hold those two themes. Spirits, afterlife and the amazing coincidences, which are anything but. I believe that everything has a reason and understanding those reasons help us deal with the difficult moments.'Reading Beaty's prose reveals a special affinity for the Young Adult mind. She is able to create extraordinary situations within the context and language of the tone of the times. She has elected to place her story in the Caribbean - a place with a magic all its own - and create characters with backgrounds that are amenable to the strange  (and wonderfully entertaining) streaks of behavior that flow through the novel. We first meet fifteen-year-old Hanna (and John) in the midst of a nightmare - a very apt way to introduce a spooky tale. Hanna comes from gypsy stock from Hungary - an orphan of a gypsy descended from a mystical tribe whose magical influence has lasted 600 years. Hanna, thinking she is descended from uppity folks, loathes gypsies, and when the aforementioned gypsy tribe's guardian Ornella (accompanied by her dog aptly named Count Dracula) arrives on the island Hanna is given two choices - embrace her gypsiness or face death, the additional catch being that if Hanna dies the entire gypsy tribe will vanish. How Hanna works with Ornella to resolve this dilemma is the crux of the story.The pleasure of Beaty's skillful writing is the 'magical blending' of the grotesque with the humorous, a fine line that she walks with ease. With the current fad of themes of zombies, werewolves, vampires, and monster movies and television, there is ample evidence that Beaty is in the right place at the right time. Be very afraid...but have a healthy chuckle along with it. Grady Harp, May 14