The Museum of Mary Child by Cassandra Golds

Heloise lives a lonely, subdued and severe life with her godmother.  She is not allowed to have toys, not allowed to play, and must spend her time being constructive.  Heloise yearns most of all for a doll and then she discovers a secret niche under a floorboard where a doll is hidden.  She succeeds for some time in hiding the doll from her godmother, but when her godmother discovers the doll, she flies into a rage.  Next door to their house is the Museum of Mary Child, a place where visitors come but Heloise has never been allowed to enter.  Her grandmother drags her there.  Stunned by the revelations of the museum, Heloise flees her godmother’s home with her doll in tow.  Ending up in the city, Heloise is taken in by a choir of orphans, where she begins to learn about what life is about and to feel like a real little girl.  But she cannot escape the mystery of her own upbringing for long.

This gothic tale owes a lot to folk tales with birds who guide humans, and a prince in prison.  These elements weave themselves into Heloise’s tale, offering glimpses of magic and wonder  against the darkness of madness and solitude.  Just as Heloise is a unique child, so this book is unique and fascinating.  It doesn’t fit into a genre niche neatly, offering so many different but well-worked elements.  Because of this, it is a very fun read.  Readers will be unable to figure out how the novel will end because they won’t be sure if they are reading fantasy, gothic, horror or fairy tale – perhaps it is all of them at once.

Heloise is a great character with her fierceness and inquisitiveness.  She carries this book forward, gradually learning along with the reader what her story is.  It is a delicately balanced story, never moving too far into horror, never too far from its fairy tale elements.  The setting is such a large part of the tale from the museum to the city itself and its madhouse and prison.  Golds does a great job creating and sustaining a mood though the entire book along with a tension that makes it difficult to put down and impossible not to puzzle about even when not reading.

Recommended for tweens who are a little too young for Twilight, this book has quality writing and an intriguing premise.  Children as young as ten who are looking for a little horror and creepiness will find a great read here.  Appropriate for ages 10-14.

Reviewed from copy provided by publisher.