A Girl Made of Air - Nydia Hetherington

Envy? Not a pretty emotion, is it? But envy is what I felt when I saw this book pop up on social media in the hands of those bloggers greater than I. Why is it some books call to you? It’s indefinable. There are books popping up on social media all the time, for goodness sake. But this one. Oh, I wanted this one. I don’t know why, but I did. You know, sometimes, if books are meant to find us then they do. I think this book wanted to find me, wanted me to read it.

Then a while after seeing these enticing posts on social media I received an email invitation for a social media blast for the book, initially only offering e-books. I don’t ’do’ ebooks. My tummy was somersaulting. I replied tentatively, enquiring if there were any physical copies. There were. I was definitely meant to read this book. 

When I finally reached the final page and put the book down, I was lost for words. I saw the world of the circus and I saw us all on the tight rope of life, the high wires of our existence. And the potential for falling is always there isn’t it? And I was reminded of Jess Richards’ City of Circles. Another book that wanted me to read it. The similarity of the names -  in ‘Circles’ there is Danu, in ‘Girl’ there is Manu, in both there are circuses and in both there is a search. For what? For who? That would be telling. I also thought of Nina Allan and The Doll Maker with its stories within a story device.

When you have a book that can be experienced and enjoyed on more than one level you know you have something special. A Girl Made of Air is rich. If you’re after a story of imagination and magic you’ve got it. If you’re after some allegorical stories pointing out ways in which we can live our lives, you’ve got it. If you hanker for some folklore and the richness of Manx traditions you’ve got it. If you’re in the mood for some philosophy about life; about loss, about truths, about friendship, about love, about family, you’ve got it. 

Using a variety of narrative devices Nydia Hetherington has created a “someother” world with one foot In the ethereal, spiritual land of lore and tradition with fairy folk, another foot in the every day world of earning a living, loving and being, getting tattoos and riding the subway,  and another foot (the triskelion Isle of Man foot/leg symbol! - I can count!) in a more metaphysical, existential consideration of people and our ultimate relationships to them, and with them.  

The central character has no name. How perfect is that? She, it is a she, is called Mouse by one of the other characters so I guess that’s how I will refer to her. Given her challenging start in life you fear for how she will negotiate the future years. The other main character is Serendipity Wilson. (Oh, I am so tempted to change my name by deed poll to Serendipity). I love the word. It suggests one thing, positive and uplifting and yet the last four letters of the word are ‘pity’. And I felt pity for Serendipity for her journey in the novel. But I felt elation for the potential of her taking her place as one of fiction’s memorable characters. (I bet Dickens is kicking himself from the grave for not grabbing this one!) But the book is populated with a rich and diverse cast of players, some with stories that will tear at your heart. 

Mouse is a funambulist. And that’s another great word, if you’re a wordsmith. Because it begins with ’fun’. Serendipity taught her to be the greatest funambulist. But she also turns out to be a gifted teller of stories, hers, and those of others. For this is a story book. And all the stories, no matter how different and irrelevant they may appear, they aren’t. At some point you realise the inter connectedness of everything. 

This book is a search. Mouse is searching. It seems like her whole life she has been searching for both the concrete and the abstract. And the telling of the stories is her search for herself. Does she find herself? You have to read the book to find out. You have to enter the striped portals of the Big Top and watch as life unfolds before your eyes with clown humour, daring acrobatics, exceptional people who may even swim in tanks and the tightrope walkers who perform their routines as deftly and accurately as we all wish we could perform our lives. And we watch with wonder and marvel in case they should fall. We watch and we search, even when that search takes us beyond the confines of the circus……. for answers.

If you are in possession of a fully loaded and functioning imagination, a heart as wide and open as the deepest ocean and the willingness to be taken wherever the story teller’s whim should propel you then the experience of this book is for you. There’s fun and there’s pity, funambulist and serendipity. There’s sadness and there’s hope. There’s mysteries to be solved. 

I’ve told you everything about this book yet I’ve told you nothing. Some books are so magical they are one thing for one person and another thing for someone else. How can you ever know? Read the book. ‘You just might find you belong……” 

Thanks to Milly Reid at Quercus Books, for gifting me a physical copy of this book. And my place upon the social media blast. I was always meant to read this book…….. But maybe so were these other bloggers......