The Golden Hour – Maiya Williams
Amulet Books, 2004
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Rowan and his always-silent sister Nina have lost their mother. During the summer they stay with their two aunts in a very particular town called Owatannauk in Maine. During one of their sessions exploring the town with recently befriended Xavier and Xanthe they find an abandoned hotel at the edge of town. When Nina disappears, Rowan, Xavier, and Xanthe have to come up with a way to bring her back. A way that involves the hotel, and Rowan learning an important lesson.
I really really enjoyed The Golden Hour. It was by no means perfect, but it did remind me of what I find so charming in Eva Ibbotson books. Reasons why I liked it, you asked?
- There is time travel, and it has rules, and it is dangerous. Sometimes time travel can lead to confusion, or a distortion of logic that doesn’t make much sense (Shadow of Night?) In The Golden Hour there is a definite set of rules, and the children have to stick to it to make it back to their own time, and they have to take care not to disturb the equilibrium to endanger themselves and others. It just makes sense, which is great.
- There is a quirky cuteness about the world Rowan finds himself in: the town, his aunts (oh – his aunts are absolutely wonderful).. Even some of the scenes in France 1789 have that feel.
- The whole idea of a “golden” and a “silver” hour (dawn and dusk) that are perfect moments and the only times at which you can safely time travel has a beauty to it that I appreciated.
- When Rowan travels to France at the time of the start of the French revolution, the book doesn’t idealise history. This isn’t time travel just for the sake of nostalgia (although that, of course, also plays a role). Instead, it shows us the dangers of the time. It also includes a commentary on class and race differences which I felt was very well done.
- There is a storyline of Rowan and Nina both needing to come to terms with the loss of their mother and to learn to love themselves for who they are. Admittedly, this is the kind of thing that you might expect to find in a book like this, but instead of becoming overtly obvious and annoying, it was charming.
Other Opinions: Bookshelves of Doom, Yours?
Though I do really like time travel books, I always want there to be a little bit of explanation and I am glad that this book had some rules where that is concerned. I also like the idea of the golden and silver hour. I haven’t read any of this author’s work, but lately I’ve been bombarded with posts about her incredible books. Perhaps now is the time!
Really? You’ve seen more posts about other books by her? I should definitely be reading more blogs! I hadn’t looked if she’d written anything else, but I’ll definitely be looking out for other titles by her now.
Time travel and the French revolution, what a great combination. Maybe not great in the happy sense, though there is a lot to discuss about that period of time and it sounds as though the author did that well. I like time travel with rules as well, it brings an almost angsty flavour to the book that keeps it feeling like it could be real, I’m thinking of the way the wardrobe in Narnia doesn’t work all the time, therefore sitting on the fence between reality and fantasy. Nice that the book wasn’t published all that long ago, good to know current children will get a chance to experience the sorts of books available when we were children!
I truly believe that there’s great children’s lit for every generation. It’s not that this is ultimate perfection, but it was a true comfort read that had some very interesting aspects to it, especially considering the historical angle and the class/race issues of revolutionary France.
You said “Eva Ibbotson” and “time travel” and nothing else you said mattered because those two things are GLORIOUS ONLY. If I had read this post earlier today I would totally have grabbed this when I was at the library, because it has the things I love (time travel AND being like Eva Ibbotson AND characters who go off to live with eccentric aunts).
Jenny, I actually thought of you a little while reading this book. I’m a little afraid Eva Ibbotson might raise your expectations for this one too high, but I did really enjoy it and some of the style/feel of the book felt similar. Also, yay for eccentric aunts!
It’s the first time I head about this book and author. How did you come to know of it?
It was purelky accidental. I was browsing the English YA shelf at the library (which is relatively small so easy to browse) and came across this title. I saw the words time travel and 18th century France and I wanted to give it a chance
It was a fun first random discovery. I love that about libraries.
Time travel can be such a tricky thing to write about, and setting up good and credible rules must be a difficult task. The fact alone that the author has succeeded in this (and also that there is no idealising of history) makes it a book I’d like to read.