Review: Mystical writing at its best! This author is a female Pat Conroy...
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 09 20, 2011
If you think there's nothing new in a poor-little-orphan-abused-by-guardians story, you're in for a real surprise! This author is a miracle worker; not only does she take an often-used but guaranteed tear-jerker plot and turn it into something uniquely enchanting, but she has so many twists and turns in her story it will keep you entranced to the end.Author Niamh Clune's story of recently orphaned, eleven-year-old Skyla McFee is hauntingly beautiful and will blow your mind when you read the superb prose that flows from her magical, mystical mind. Her words flow across the pages as easily and musically as ripples on a tinkling brook in a breath-taking meadow. And with her charming main character's penchant for creative thinking and paranormal actions, the plot bubbles with style, grace and spookiness.Since Pat Conroy is my all-time favorite author (with Joseph Finder running a close second), I'll even go so far as to say that Niamh Clune is a female Pat Conroy. And everyone knows how I feel about Conroy's fanciful, poetic prose and mastery of the English language.Clune's wondrous story begins with a bedraggled and bruised Skyla racing down the rain-drenched streets of East London as though the hounds of hell were after her. She's struggling to reach the home of her childhood, a home that was hers until her mother's recent death.The little girl's favorite possession is a chair she inherited from her mother and when she's abused she learns how to escape her tormentors by sitting in this magical chair where she learns to use her imagination. She's transported to a parallel universe riddled with mysteries and peopled with characters that help her find the answers to her dilemma.What happens when Skyla reaches her destination and meets a doctor who now resides in her former home? What role does a cat named Mick play in her struggles to understand? How does the doctor help her? Why are her mother's second husband--whom her mother married after the death of her father--and his mother so intent on harming her? Why is Skyla locked in a cold, damp cellar? And where is her beloved aunt who was supposed to be her guardian? Why has she deserted the sweet, innocent child?I can't describe the many mysterious paths on which Skyla is led in order to unravel the truth of her real-life situation. I can say that she learns valuable lessons far beyond her years and when bullied by children at school, she manages to lead them and other lost souls back to themselves... You'll have to read for yourself to see the power of this author's mind at work in an unbelievable plot that's made entirely believable by Clune's writing skills...and her unique imagination.Orange Petals in a Storm (Skyla McFee Series)is a hard book to categorize. The title led me to think it was a collection of poetry and I had to wait until late in the story to learn how the title relates, but it's worth the wait. Orange petals play a strategic role in tying plot angles together. I'd say this is a Young Adult/Adult Crossover novel because it is rapidly gaining a following from both groups.  And like all good stories, it's a good-versus-evil story, with good triumphing in the end.I highly recommend this book to everyone and I suspect this Irish lassie has been kissed by the faeries in order to come up with such an outstanding work. This is one of my very favorites of 2011. (I understand Naimh Clune has written several books before this, but I haven't read them. I hope they're of equal quality to this one as I plan to read them if they're still available.)Reviewed by Betty Dravis, September 20, 2011Author of "The Toonies Invade Silicon Valley"