The Illustrated Child - Polly Crosby

What begins as perhaps a whimsical and fairy-tale like account of a young child’s bohemian type existence as the daughter of an artist metamorphoses into a story of depth. An exploration of the power of creativity, the complexities of the human heart and it’s capacity for love. A story of loss and longing and ultimately a redemption of a kind. A debut novel of some substance The Illustrated Child is an eloquent coming of age novel.

‘Romilly lives in a ramshackle house with her eccentric artist father and her cat, Monty. She knows little about her past – but she knows that she is loved.

When her father finds fame with a series of children’s books starring her as the main character, everything changes: exotic foods appear on the table, her father appears on TV, and strangers appear at their door, convinced the books contain clues leading to a precious prize.

But as time passes, Romilly’s father becomes increasingly suspicious of the outside world until, before her eyes, he begins to disappear altogether. With no-one else to help, Romilly turns to the secrets her father has hidden in his illustrated books – realising that his treasure hunt doesn’t lead to gold, but to something far more precious…

The truth.’

This is a meandering tale that evokes long, lazy summer days in parts. There are aspects of it that lift you into an otherworld where time has no place. As the story unravels you begin to intuit certain truths that are revealed ultimately. It is not a comfortable or a cosy read. In fact I will confess that there were parts where the tears just rolled down my face unchecked, I was so upset.  It is a slow paced book, the chapters filled with evocative descriptions and images in a languid prose that reminded me a little of Kate Morton. Braër House is palpable and presents almost as an additional character in the book. I had the strongest sense that neither Romilly nor her father should stray too far from its debatable security.

Romilly is a complex character. By the time you reach the end of the book you wonder just how the hell she’s coped with any of it. She is a paradox. There were times when I actually found it hard to like her or comprehend her behaviour. But then when you learn the full story your heart breaks for her. There is such a sense of a child trapped in the uncomprehending world of adults where everyone speaks in riddles as if they are frightened of the truth. And indeed Romilly has to search her father’s storybooks about her to find the ultimate truth. Made all the harder by what happens to him, Tobias, another character, less complex, perhaps than Romilly but so full of love for his daughter that it seems to paralyse any objective emotion he might have in helping her deal with her past, her present and her future. 

It’s a deceptively dark book. Magical realism sprang to mind at one point when I was attempting to ‘genrelise’ it but there’s no genre exclusivity here. It’s almost a mass of contradictions for the perceived whimsy runs alongside an almost gothic bleakness.

As a debut novel it’s impressive  and arresting, one that will stay with you long after you close its heartfelt covers. 

My thanks to HQ stories for a proof of this unique story.