Emma in Winter, by Penelope Farmer

This is a sequel to The Summer Birds, in which a group of children learn to fly, among them the sisters Charlotte and Emma Makepeace.

It’s now winter, and none of them can fly anymore. Charlotte is away at boarding school, and Emma is rattling around Aviary Hall, lonely and unhappy. Meanwhile, fat and clumsy Bobby Fumpkins, who once flew but was always the straggler vainly trying to be a welcomed member of the group, is also lonely, eating to soothe his unhappiness without recognizing that’s what he’s doing. Emma, like the other kids, is casually mean to him, lashing out at others (not just him) to soothe her unhappiness without recognizing that that’s what she’s doing.

Bobby and Emma begin to share a strange dream, in which they fly every night over a mysterious and shifting landscape. Their shared efforts to understand what’s happening and why lead a prickly but very real friendship, which in turn leads to emotional growth and the beginnings of maturity.

I was waiting with some dread for Bobby to learn not to eat to soothe himself and so slim down as a symbol of his maturing. Neither happens, though he does develop a better relationship with food in other ways – rather than just eating compulsively and alone, he discovers that food can also be used to emotionally bond with others. This comes to a lovely understated climax when he’s unhappy, automatically grabs some peppermints, and gives one to Emma before popping the other in his mouth.

The beginning of the book is rough going due to the realistic depiction of being twelve and miserable and doing things that only make it worse for yourself and others. Once Emma and Bobby make friends, it’s much more enjoyable reading, though its pleasures are the homey ones of friends and self-discovery rather than the transcendence of flight. Their dream-flights are strange and a bit abstract; they're atmospheric but the payoff didn’t 100% work for me as the emotional weight felt like it should be on something else.

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Not as transcendent as The Summer Birds but still interesting and worthwhile.

Emma in Winter

Friday KatMari

Yes, I am still at it. While in Mariposa I mentioned it to my parents, who watched a few episodes and promptly tidied up some of their stuff, donating clothes and watching videos on how to fold vertically.

As always, please no negativity in comments. Cut for photos of bookcases and cats.

Here is a shot of my kitchen from a month or so ago.



Here is my kitchen today. (Still need a new table and chair. That is way overdue.)



Here is my memoir bookcase, with Jewish, Chinese, and oversize books on top. (Some overflow memoirs are elsewhere.) You can tell when categories change because the alphabet-by-author starts over from the beginning. It goes something like: My Happy Childhood, My Funny Family, I Love My Family, My Fucked-Up Childhood, My Mental Illness, I Loved Someone Who Died, My Exciting Experience, My Exciting Hobby, My Showbiz Career (Dance, Music, Acting, Directing, Writing), I Live Somewhere Cool, My Civilian Wartime Experience, Let Me Tell You About Religion.



Here is my food bookcase, with Japanese books on top. They're ordered more by size than by category, but the categories are How to Cook, I Like to Cook, I Like to Eat, Regional Food Is The Best.