Cobweb Walking

by Sara Banerji

As a child-so tiny and delicate that her father calls her fairy-Morgan has a special relationship with nature, for she can hear the Silence, the harmonising force that creates and sustains all things. The hum-ming of the Silence is her secret, even from her beloved father, as is the day that she walks along a cobweb.But with adolescence comes a loss of childhood innocence and the intrusion into her perfect world of an unwanted step-mother and baby sister. These loud and chaotic presences, together with an act, as she perceives it, of unwarranted violence by her father, have a traumatic effect on Morgan. Sent by her father to get help-for the family has been trapped in a fall-out shelter for days-Morgan, a dwarf, goes instead on an odyssey into the unknown, seemingly hostile, world outside her home. Mourning the disappearance of magic from her life and realising for the first time that she is physically deformed, Morgan learns that only through love can she regain her empathy with the Silence and the ability to transcend the boundaries that enclose other people.

160 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1986

About the author

Sara Banerji describes her style as ‘mystic realism’ – her stories are peopled with vivid characters, whose lives are shot through with magic as well as very real human emotions. They are recounted with dark humour that can all too easily tip over into horror. Critics describe her voice as ‘original and highly imaginative’ ‘entertaining’, ‘bold’, ‘punchy’, ‘exciting’, ‘gripping, fluid and confident’. She is widely acclaimed as ‘a very gifted storyteller’.

Reviews

[Nikki in Niagara · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've read one other book by this author and I feel like I've stumbled upon a hidden gem. There are currently no reviews for this book on either Librarything or Goodreads and only one on Amazon but I haven't read it. I feel intimidated to be putting my paltry so-called review out there alone. This book defies genre but is imbued with magical realism throughout. One cannot offer up a summary as this is a short book, an odd tale that defies summing up without giving away the secrets. While the story is entirely realistic, it is told by a seventeen-year-old female dwarf who lives in a fairy tale world which as just been shattered by a bomb. Her real name is Morgan but her Daddy calls her Fairy. She can walk on cobwebs and leaves no footprints in the snow yet now for the first time ever she is by herself lost in the "city" and people are staring at her, children point and one even asked its mother if she were real. Something terrible has happened, more terrible than the bomb; we need to find out what Morgan's secret is. This is beautifully written and mesmerizing. Such an odd story, yet compelling. I can't say anything else without giving the story away, but, in the end, I was of two minds. One half of me felt sorry for Morgan; that she had been raised too over-protected while the other half was jealous that she was allowed to live in such a special fairytale world before she had to come of age, as we all must eventually.

[Kirsty · Rating 5 out of 5]

Strange, dark, sad, magical. Can't believe I'd never heard of this book. Best thing I've read in ages.