Hello, Mrs. B.,
I’m going to begin this exploration I promised you with a really recent read, and one I've already talked to you about. Rae Carson has indeed created an amazing world in her Fire and Thorns series (I just finished reading Crown of Embers -- AWESOME BOOK!!), but more importantly, she’s written an amazingly vivid narrator, a strong, clever heroine that deserves some love.
Elisa is born both a princess and blessed by God, bearer of an amazing burden: a living godstone. But, Elisa acknowledges from the beginning that she is as far from a hero and a princess as any one girl could be. She believes herself especially to be far from being a woman that her recently betrothed could come to love or could ascend to his side as queen. Through the course of -- so far -- two stories, she grows and blossoms. She shows her real strength in so many ways. She may not be willowy or graceful, like her sister, but she’s brilliant. She’s a tactician with a natural talent in military and political maneuverings. She’s self-effacing, but she hides a spine of steel. She has a soft and caring heart. And she comes to realize that she is beautiful in ways that are very different from her sister. Her destiny leads her down some strange and twisting paths, but many of them are paths she decides to take. She falls in love and finds others fall in love with her in return. But, all the while, she also learns. From her successes and her mistakes. She learns from the situations she can and can’t control. She learns how one not-so-very princess-like girl can be not only a strong leader of a rebel faction, but a beloved queen. Because, that’s one thing she’s already learned, and learned early: Life isn’t wine and roses. Not for a princess and not for the people she rules.
And that’s just a part of what I like about her. I like that she doesn’t put on airs. That she comes to love a rougher life. She is adventurous. And she’s willing to try. She may not think she’s up to the task, but she still goes forward with everything she has.
I love Elisa. And, I think you will, too.
Enjoy, Mrs. B.
Best,
-OA.
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