Author creates fine fantasy ‘Hermit Thrush Sings’ well-crafted expedition

THE HERMIT THRUSH SINGS by Susan Butler, DK Publishing Inc, New York, 282 pages, 1999, $16.95.

Most fantasy novels understandably fall far short of their jacket promises. Sustaining a created world for a few hundred pages and making it credible for readers must be a demanding task. Even the smallest of slips can burst the bubble.

Susan Butler’s Lupine Award-winning “The Hermit Thrush Sings” is a notable exception. In the first few chapters the reader is drawn into its enchantment, seeing the world through the heroine’s eyes, caring deeply for her and her allies, and hating to put the book down for any reason. Developments are foreshadowed subtly. The universe is sustained flawlessly until the last page. Descriptions are vivid and not overdone. The language is rich and satisfying. While an older child can enjoy the story, an adult will

gain far more, making this novel perfect for family sharing.

A meteor has destroyed much of the Earth. Survivors huddle in walled villages, following the stringent laws of the Rulers in return for food and protection from the birmbas, fierce human-eating creatures that prowl the woods. Carefully cultivated mutual suspicion prevents residents of the different villages from uniting in rebellion.

Leora’s sister and father have been killed by the birmbas. Existence in her stepmother’s household, where she feels rejected by all but the cook, is grim. Having a webbed hand leaves her in fear of being sent to the Institute, a bleak repository for all who are considered “defective.”

But Leora has deep unrecognized strengths. Her webbed hand gives her the power to create powerful art, to discern the future, and to communicate with creatures. She is a courageous protector of the helpless. When her sadistic step-cousin, Wilfert, captures a baby birmba, she rescues it and reunites it with its mother.

When they discover that Leora has released their captive, Wilfert and his superiors announce that she must be sent to the Institute the next morning. But, that night, she gains a glimmer of hope. Her beloved sister Reba may be alive and recruiting for a rebellion. Stepping out from the village into a realm she has been taught to fear, she embarks on a journey of discovery and empowerment.

In a phone conversation, Butler said her childhood gave her the fodder to create a society where most knowledge is forbidden to know and blind conformity is rigidly enforced. Her screenwriter father was blacklisted during the McCarthy era because of his political views. Many of his friends were in jail. When she was 8, her family had to leave the United States and live in Mexico.

Leora’s empowerment was a vehicle for Butler’s own personal growth. “I was a very silent child,” she said. “I was not a central character in my own life. Instead, I was an observer of people. And I spent more time in fantasy than reality. Leora’s coming into her own paralleled my coming out of silence.”

Butler has built a vacation home in Prospect Harbor, where she plans to retire. Her initial inspiration for “The Hermit Thrush Sings” occurred on a drive from her home in Brookline, Mass., to her adopted state of Maine. “A cloud drifted over the sun. I felt as though I had stepped into another world.”

The actual creation of the book took about five years from conception to final corrections. “I only had time to write during summers. I could not look at it for nine months. I would always have to reimmerse myself. Sometimes I would lose the thread.”

Currently, Butler is working on a sequel. If it lives up to the bright shining promise of the original novel, I sure hope we won’t have to wait five years!