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A review by _haggis_
Nettle and Bone by T. Kingfisher
adventurous
dark
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Without a doubt, one of the best books I've read in ages.
One of the things I loved most was that Kingfisher/Vernon is so very generous to her characters - she treats them with such warmth. I don't mean that she gives them easy storylines (this is a story of overcoming abuse, of anger at injustice) but she's never snobby towards them, or cynical. She lets them be angry, and upset, and make the wrong decisions and have these wrong decisions impact others, yet she never leaves her readers in any doubt that they are good and are trying their hardest. I think there's a lot of empathy in the way she writes and that is such a rare thing to find. Everyone - from the cursechild, to the drowned, to the women who are too afraid to leave their situations, to the strategic queenmother, to the nuns, and the little old ladies, they're all treated with such dignity. This ultimately was why I loved the book so much.
No review should go without saying that feminism (if this is not anachronistic to use of a fantasy world) also lies at the heart of the story. A (thirty year old!!!) princess goes to rescue her sister from an abusive marriage, aided by a variety of odd characters she meets along the way - in particular two old women. I can't remember the last time I read a book with an old woman as the main character, certainly not two, and certainly not portrayed as powerful and kind and thoughtful and grumpy and lovable. The story is so much about women's relationships and friendships, of pregnancy and miscarriage and vulnerability. Of women used as political pawns and their wombs and bodies sacrificed, and the way women in media are either visible as beautiful and sexual objects (like a prince's wife) or fade invisibly to the background overlooked and unimportant to the story (like the old women and the nun and the "stupid" sister").
Pretty much every character is a woman - as I'm writing this review, I'm realising this more and more. There are so many women. So many different kinds of women. Nuns, Godmothers, grave-witches, women giving birth, abbesses, princesses, queens, middle-aged women on coaches who tell off rude men, kind women who give strangers food and help, the group stop to ask for directions and it's a frazzled mother who gives it to them, they stay at a boarding house owned by a woman and a little girl gives them advice. Just so many women. The story is built on the backs of women and I loved every second of it.
(side note: I especially like that traditionally feminine things are NEVER mocked -- Marra loves knitting and embroidery and this helps them over and over again. The old witches wear dresses, and have large breasts and keep chickens, and this is normalised. Femininity is never degraded - and the characters are never made the lesser for it.)
It's an achingly important story and (importantly) never felt forced. This is crucial, I think, to the best stories and the most progressive. This story isn't centred around women for the thrill and activism but because women exist and their stories and pains exist and deserve to be told. The character's dialogue -- even those moments where it spilled into self-awareness -- never felt cliche or jarring. The dust-wife's wry comment that 'old women never do well in fairytales' is funny, nuanced and a clever commentary, but it also felt natural.
That was another thing I liked so much about the book, every character's reaction to any given situation felt natural. Sometimes they cried, sometimes they were frustrated, sometimes they wanted to give up, sometimes they bickered, sometimes they left and said foolish things and sometimes they focused on the wrong thing in the moment.
The book is highly self-aware and this was refreshing too. It dealt with the tropes of fairytales - of evil fairy godmothers un-invited to christenings, of princes obsessed with princess' skin - and the narrative focuses on heroes and quests (queue the number of times Marra turns to think about the heroes she knew from stories and why the legends never tell of the waiting, of the planning, of not being taken seriously). Yet Kingfisher's writing never slid into the absurd or the coy gloating of satire - it still demanded to be taken ernestly and genuinely.
Three more thoughts before I finish this essay:
1) I enjoyed the love side plot. Maybe other's don't, and that's fine, it's not for everyone. But crucially the love plot never superseded the rescue missionI mean they don't even kiss . Also, I think there's definitely a place for brilliant female heroes to fall in love and it not to detract from their empowerment (especially with kind, gentle, willing-to-kill-abusive-husbands-and-fathers sorts of men)
2) Laundry -- Kingfisher makes time to tell you that Agnes, in a few days of downtime, befriends a local woman and they do laundry together. I just love this, it's mundane, it's simple, it's domestic, it's relationships, it's highlighting women's work. Gah. Love it.
3) A little note. The story is about Marra as much as it's about Fenris and Agnes and the chicken and the Dust-wife and all of them help at different points and all of them have struggles. They couldn't do it without each other and the only thing keeping them together is that they have heard that a woman is being abused and they want to change this. Oh, and Marra, Marra keeps them together. She isn't made out to be special, with incredible powers, or wit, or skills (more often than not she critically underestimates herself). But she loves so much, and she wants to help everyone she can, even if it is only a little kindness. And that I think is why she never comes across as an uninteresting audience double - she refuses to bow to the hardships of the world and remains stubbornly fierce for justice.
One of the things I loved most was that Kingfisher/Vernon is so very generous to her characters - she treats them with such warmth. I don't mean that she gives them easy storylines (this is a story of overcoming abuse, of anger at injustice) but she's never snobby towards them, or cynical. She lets them be angry, and upset, and make the wrong decisions and have these wrong decisions impact others, yet she never leaves her readers in any doubt that they are good and are trying their hardest. I think there's a lot of empathy in the way she writes and that is such a rare thing to find. Everyone - from the cursechild, to the drowned, to the women who are too afraid to leave their situations, to the strategic queenmother, to the nuns, and the little old ladies, they're all treated with such dignity. This ultimately was why I loved the book so much.
No review should go without saying that feminism (if this is not anachronistic to use of a fantasy world) also lies at the heart of the story. A (thirty year old!!!) princess goes to rescue her sister from an abusive marriage, aided by a variety of odd characters she meets along the way - in particular two old women. I can't remember the last time I read a book with an old woman as the main character, certainly not two, and certainly not portrayed as powerful and kind and thoughtful and grumpy and lovable. The story is so much about women's relationships and friendships, of pregnancy and miscarriage and vulnerability. Of women used as political pawns and their wombs and bodies sacrificed, and the way women in media are either visible as beautiful and sexual objects (like a prince's wife) or fade invisibly to the background overlooked and unimportant to the story (like the old women and the nun and the "stupid" sister").
Pretty much every character is a woman - as I'm writing this review, I'm realising this more and more. There are so many women. So many different kinds of women. Nuns, Godmothers, grave-witches, women giving birth, abbesses, princesses, queens, middle-aged women on coaches who tell off rude men, kind women who give strangers food and help, the group stop to ask for directions and it's a frazzled mother who gives it to them, they stay at a boarding house owned by a woman and a little girl gives them advice. Just so many women. The story is built on the backs of women and I loved every second of it.
(side note: I especially like that traditionally feminine things are NEVER mocked -- Marra loves knitting and embroidery and this helps them over and over again. The old witches wear dresses, and have large breasts and keep chickens, and this is normalised. Femininity is never degraded - and the characters are never made the lesser for it.)
It's an achingly important story and (importantly) never felt forced. This is crucial, I think, to the best stories and the most progressive. This story isn't centred around women for the thrill and activism but because women exist and their stories and pains exist and deserve to be told. The character's dialogue -- even those moments where it spilled into self-awareness -- never felt cliche or jarring. The dust-wife's wry comment that 'old women never do well in fairytales' is funny, nuanced and a clever commentary, but it also felt natural.
That was another thing I liked so much about the book, every character's reaction to any given situation felt natural. Sometimes they cried, sometimes they were frustrated, sometimes they wanted to give up, sometimes they bickered, sometimes they left and said foolish things and sometimes they focused on the wrong thing in the moment.
The book is highly self-aware and this was refreshing too. It dealt with the tropes of fairytales - of evil fairy godmothers un-invited to christenings, of princes obsessed with princess' skin - and the narrative focuses on heroes and quests (queue the number of times Marra turns to think about the heroes she knew from stories and why the legends never tell of the waiting, of the planning, of not being taken seriously). Yet Kingfisher's writing never slid into the absurd or the coy gloating of satire - it still demanded to be taken ernestly and genuinely.
Three more thoughts before I finish this essay:
1) I enjoyed the love side plot. Maybe other's don't, and that's fine, it's not for everyone. But crucially the love plot never superseded the rescue mission
2) Laundry -- Kingfisher makes time to tell you that Agnes, in a few days of downtime, befriends a local woman and they do laundry together. I just love this, it's mundane, it's simple, it's domestic, it's relationships, it's highlighting women's work. Gah. Love it.
3) A little note. The story is about Marra as much as it's about Fenris and Agnes and the chicken and the Dust-wife and all of them help at different points and all of them have struggles. They couldn't do it without each other and the only thing keeping them together is that they have heard that a woman is being abused and they want to change this. Oh, and Marra, Marra keeps them together. She isn't made out to be special, with incredible powers, or wit, or skills (more often than not she critically underestimates herself). But she loves so much, and she wants to help everyone she can, even if it is only a little kindness. And that I think is why she never comes across as an uninteresting audience double - she refuses to bow to the hardships of the world and remains stubbornly fierce for justice.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse and Death
Moderate: Pregnancy
Minor: Child abuse, Miscarriage, Suicidal thoughts, and Child death
Even though there are a few heavy themes, the book is uplifting, it's about overcoming abusers, of recovery and found family.