Eileen Kernaghan

Stand-alone novels:


Dance of the Snow Dragon — (1995) Young adult. Publisher: Dance of the Snow Dragon is an engrossing tale of spiritual develpment and magical wonder set in the Buddhist enclaves of the Himalayas.

The Snow Queen — (2000) Young adult. Publisher: Winner of the 2001 Aurora Award for Best Long Form Work in English! In this reworking of Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tale, the magical worlds of Saami shamanism and the Kalevala coexist with the polite Victorian society of nineteenth-century Scandanavia. At a time when traditional faith is challenged by modern science, the old pagan gods still haunt the northern forests. Kernaghan blends fantasy and historical realism to create an enchanting, provocative story that will inspire readers of all ages.

Winter On the Plain of Ghosts: A Novel of Mohenjo-daro — (2004) Publisher: A tale of sorcery, religious conflict, political intrigue and ecological disaster in the lost cities of the Indus Valley, circa 2000 BC.

The Alchemist's Daughter — (2004) With R P Macintyre. Publisher: The enchantment and mystery of Renaissance Elizabethan England and the threat of the Spanish Armada serve as the backdrop for this tale of natural magic, alchemy and scrying. What is endorsed is the classical quest, and archetype heroic pattern. Kernahan’s use of real historical figures like Humphrey Gilbert and William Shakespeare, blended with original and unforgettable fictional characters add to the rich detail, while her impeccable research allow this novel to travel beyond its initial young adult audience. The language components are uncompromising, and although there is a familiar feel of a young protagonist (Sidonie Quince) and her reluctance to use her gifts (seeing the future), the archetype plot of saving her father and her country is reinvented with great power.

Wild Talent: A Novel of the Supernatural — (2008) Publisher: Wild Talent: a Novel of the Supernatural is the strange tale of Jeannie Guthrie, a sixteen-year-old Scottish farm worker, who possesses a frightening talent. Believing that she has unintentionally killed her ne'er-do-well cousin, her fear of being sentenced as a witch propels her to flee her home to London. There, Guthrie is befriended by the free-spirited and adventurous Alexandra David, and introduced to Madame Helena Blavatsky's famous salon where she begins to understand the source of her strange powers. With detailed action sequences Kernaghan engages her readers as Jeannie and Alexandra venture from the late Victorian world of spiritualists and theosophists; to the fin de siecle Paris of burgeoning artists, anarchists and esoteric cults; and finally to the perilous country of the Beyond. It is against these eerie late 19th century backdrops that Kernaghan weaves an accessible tale of myth and magic, while at the same time addressing the serious and relevant issues of trust, conviction, and power.

Wild Talent

While Wild Talent is very different from Eileen Kernaghan's 2000 novel, The Snow Queen, there are two major themes that the two novels have in common. Both feature young girls striking out precipitously on their own into an unsafe world. Both also address the frustrations of intelligent women up against the repressive mores of Victorian society. The result, in both cases, is a gently feminist coming-of-age tale with a strong sense of place and time.

Wild Talent tells the story of Jeannie Guthrie, a young Scottish farm girl who flees her home suddenly, fearing charges of witchcraft and murder after a telekinetic talent helps her fight off a would-be rapist. She reaches London, where she befriends Alexandra David and finds employment with Helena Blavatsky. The historical characters are fascinating, and Jeannie herself is delightfully complex — unusually courageous in some ways and so very unsure in others.

The greatest strength of Wild Talent is its vivid portrayal of the tumultuous times in which Jeannie lives. The drudgery of rural poverty, the decadence of absinthe-soaked artists, the glamour of the Paris world's fair, and the spiritual debates among London's occult circles are all handled with skill. When I finished Wild Talent I felt that I'd paid a visit to the late 19th century, that I'd been right there with Jeannie all along.

Also well-handled were the questions of what is “real” and what is not. The book is teeming with the supernatural — some of it real, some of it staged by charlatans, some of it in that gray area of uncertainty where the reader isn't sure whether it's real or a dream.

There's a spot toward the middle of the book that was rough going in a way, and ironically, it's because of something Kernaghan did very, very well. As the reader, I was feeling a little adrift and not sure whether the story was moving, and then a little light bulb went on over my head and I realized it was because Jeannie felt adrift and wasn't sure whether she was getting anywhere. Alone in London, with her fondest dream postponed for the sake of day-to-day survival, Jeannie is understandably depressed. Kernaghan's portrayal of Jeannie's depression is true to life and really made me feel for the character.

The ending leaves open the question of whether Jeannie achieves her goal of becoming a writer — but as I remembered her musings at the beginning of the book about the power of words, I realized that the novel's text itself was meant to be the answer. Well played.   —Kelly   Comments