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A review by jessriannereads
Miranda and Caliban by Jacqueline Carey
5.0
❝’Tis the fine edge of a blade that divides innocence from ignorance, and methinks it a blade that will turn in thy hand and cut thee one day.❞
— Jacqueline Carey
❖
This novel has me thinking of a life in solitary on a island, with naught but a suspiciously overbearing father, a meddlesome and mercurial spirit, and a single friend condemned to a life as a slave and monster.
This novel is a brilliant and devastating rendering of the characters in Shakespeare’s tragicomedy, The Tempest. Carey explores the blossoming of friendship and sexuality, the oppression of sexuality, the harshness of prejudice, and the innocence—and ignorance—that comes with adolescence. Carey chronicles the woes of puberty when met with the strictures of a domineering father, and master, and of the struggles that come from loneliness, forbidden love, blind faith, and loyal devotion.
It could also be considered a tragicomedy, as there is slight humor in the beginning, as the two friends are young and learning together, but as the years pass, dark intentions take hold and everything on the isle changes. The ending is poignant.
Miranda’s tender heart and Caliban’s troubled soul kept me enthralled and their story is one I will always remember. This novel is a beautifully tragic story of love, protection, obedience, friendship, faith, vengeance, and magic.
— Jacqueline Carey
❖
This novel has me thinking of a life in solitary on a island, with naught but a suspiciously overbearing father, a meddlesome and mercurial spirit, and a single friend condemned to a life as a slave and monster.
This novel is a brilliant and devastating rendering of the characters in Shakespeare’s tragicomedy, The Tempest. Carey explores the blossoming of friendship and sexuality, the oppression of sexuality, the harshness of prejudice, and the innocence—and ignorance—that comes with adolescence. Carey chronicles the woes of puberty when met with the strictures of a domineering father, and master, and of the struggles that come from loneliness, forbidden love, blind faith, and loyal devotion.
It could also be considered a tragicomedy, as there is slight humor in the beginning, as the two friends are young and learning together, but as the years pass, dark intentions take hold and everything on the isle changes. The ending is poignant.
Miranda’s tender heart and Caliban’s troubled soul kept me enthralled and their story is one I will always remember. This novel is a beautifully tragic story of love, protection, obedience, friendship, faith, vengeance, and magic.