Where Kate Fights her Fate

The Perilous Gard by Elizabeth Marie Pope
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Out of favor with Queen Mary, young Kate Sutton gets banished to an out-of-the-way castle called Perilous Gard. Strange things happen there, and it's not much of spoiler to say that she discovers that the world of fairies is very real and very dangerous. She's in danger, and so is the lord's brother and daughter, both of whom Kate wants to help. It's a clever story with a great sense of place, putting the reader in a closed-off corner of forest and rocky hills where magic is still possible, and I feel it's pretty successful.

The middle section of the book drags more than I like, and sense of mystery is damaged by too much familiarity, but the ending(s) are satisfying enough to make allowances.

This is meant to be a MG (supposedly) or YA novel, and it was a Newberry Honor book after it was first published, so it has credentials. Nice cover; interesting premise; some age-appropriate art inside; this seems like it should still do well with young people. I couldn't interest any of my students in it over the years while it was in my class library, which was a disappointment, but I get it now; it looks at first like it would be in reach of struggling or disaffected readers, something like Cooper's Dark is Rising, but when you start you find that it reads harder than that (IMO), and is about 10,000 words longer. Not quite right for the bulk of my population.

Anyway, it's a good historical fantasy that really should appeal to many readers, and even after all these years (as it was first published 1974), it deserves to find an audience.

Recommended for old people like me, sturdy MG readers, and lots of people in between.

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