YA Review: The Left-Handed Booksellers of London
The Left-Handed Booksellers of London by Garth Nix (Katherine Tegen Books, 416p., ages 14-up, 9780062683250)
The Left-Handed Booksellers of London delivers a fantastic journey through a 1983 England where mythic beings from the Old World threaten the safety of the New.
When Susan Arkshaw turns 18, she leaves her mum and the family farm behind and goes to London to find a father she's never known. She meets the gloriously dressed, "shape-shiftery" Merlin as he is executing her mother's old friend with a pin made of "silver-washed steel." (Apparently "Uncle" Frank was a crime boss and a blood-drinking "Sipper"--said to be the basis for the vampire legend.) When the police arrive, Susan finds there's a special branch devoted to covering up "the ancient weird sh*t" that sometimes bubbles to the surface of her world. Merlin is part of the St. Jacques family, booksellers all with the mission of making sure "most Old World entities are bound" and thus unable to interfere in the "prosaic human world"--that is, "reality." Merlin is left-handed and deals with, in his words, the more "active stuff," while his sister, Vivien, is a right-handed researcher sort who can "weigh the truth." Susan, Merlin and Vivien set off to find Susan's father before the supernatural activities escalate any further.
Fans of Garth Nix's other works, such as the Old Kingdom series or Angel Mage, should enjoy this exhilarating volume. Action, light romance and otherworldly machinations keep the tension flowing as Nix reveals a warm-hearted and clever fantasy. Readers will almost certainly leave this magical London searching for hints of the Old World peeking through our own. --Lynn Becker, blogger and host of Book Talk, a monthly online discussion of children's books for SCBWI.
Discover: In Garth Nix's smart literary fantasy, 18-year-old Susan Arkshaw arrives in London looking for her father and is greeted by all manner of supernatural creatures.
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