By Holly Johnson, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH
The four novels this week address issues of government practices and policies and how those initiatives impact human beings. The Firekeeper’s Daughter, Your Heart, My Sky, The Beatryce Prophecy, and Unsettled as a text set are a blend of historical realities, fable/fairytale, as well as legends and cultural traditions. The power of these novels is the ability of the authors to create realistic contexts that are often too familiar while highlighting individuals and their responses to that political context. Each of these narratives invite questions about government programming and the gaps within the lived reality as well as the historical documentation of that programming provides entrée into the study of history itself. Who and what is fore fronted? Who or what is silenced or rendered invisible? How can history be re-envisioned, and in what ways can more of the “story” of history be brought into view? How can students of history look beneath the official narrative and, perhaps, bring about change? How do people actually live within the history given? How does one make a life in dangerous times?
For example, Your Heart, My Sky tackles the historical realities of government policies and the doublespeak that often is part of those policies. In this instance, it is the dominant discourse of peace that hides the forced volunteerism and starvation that occurs in “a special time of peace.” In connection to government policies, official narratives, and life in a dangerous time, what happens when something catastrophic occurs? How do people “on the ground” respond to the narratives they hear over the various media available to them? In what says are the responses to the media create more destruction?
Reem Faruqi’s Unsettled creates an opportunity to look at one instance of a life disrupted by catastrophe, and how individuals involved respond—unknowingly or knowingly—to a changing political climate. It is most interesting to think about how the young negotiate the political realities that affect their lives, but of which they may know so little. The Beatryce Prophecy brings such unknowing into stark relief. It is through the help of others that the protagonist Beatryce, in a narrative that is somewhat fairytale/fable in nature, that readers can see how government edicts, policies, or fears can impact the individual.
In The Fire Keeper’s Daughter, based in a more current historical setting and foregrounds the story of Daunis Fontaine, that readers see how one individual attempting to escape her current situation can be grounded by a family tragedy. In turn, it is through this unfortunate turn of events that Daunis is drawn into a lived reality in which she becomes entwined with government policies and responses to a larger community situation that is endangering not only her tribal community’s welfare, but perhaps, her own.
Each of these novels allow readers a space to contemplate how individuals are impacted by larger forces. Each provides riveting stories. And each is a deeply satisfying read.
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- Themes: Beatryce Prophecy, Firekeeper's Daughter, Holly Johnson, Unsettled, Your Heart My Sky
- Descriptors: Books & Resources, WOW Currents