Everyone likes a tale of magic and romance. Leslie Brooks of Colrain has produced a delightful story in “Alannah,” her first book of fiction. Brooks bills the novel as appropriate “for children of all ages from, 8 to 98.”
Her title character is a young girl who lives in “a place called Far Away and a time called Long Ago.” Alannah is ostensibly the child of a simple woodcutter and his wife, and she loves her foster parents. In reality, she is the heir to the throne and the most recent incarnation of an ancient magical being.
As Alannah grows she begins to learn to use her powers and to spread joy everywhere. She is helped in her studies of life and enchantment by witches, wizards, trolls, fairies, and a special dragon.
She soon meets Prince Tarek. The real child of the woodcutter and his wife (the two infants were magically switched at birth), the prince is growing up in a castle and a land in which he senses that something is wrong.
He dislikes the venal nature of the king’s courtiers and takes to sneaking out of the castle to meet ordinary people and discover what he can about their lives. It is during one of these excursions that Tarek first encounters Alannah. She teaches him about people and about magic. Inevitably, the two fall in love.
They encounter obstacles, both human and magical. The king’s wicked senior adviser learns of Tarek’s trips to the countryside and puts a stop to them. And somewhere, somehow, bad magic is gathering to combat the love and joy in which Alannah believes.
Eventually, the young couple and the people of the kingdom come face to face with the magical threat.
“Alannah” is hard to resist. Leslie Brooks has created a sweet heroine who is literally and figuratively enchanting and a diverse set of supporting characters. Brooks obviously believes in the magic about which she writes.
The book doesn’t offer a lot of suspense. Alannah’s main purpose in the world seems to be vanquishing bad magic, and she’s very good at that work, so the story’s happy ending is hardly surprising. The reader won’t miss suspense, however. The trolls, fairies, and dragons keep the narrative moving.
Best of all, the novel has a moral anyone can take to heart: that words matter, and that we should be careful in what we say, even to ourselves.
Leslie Brooks will read from “Alannah” and sign copies of the book on Saturday, Dec. 10, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Leyden Town Hall on West Leyden Road. The book is also available at local bookstores and online at Amazon.com and love-incarnate.com
Tinky Weisblat is the author of “The Pudding Hollow Cookbook” and “Pulling Taffy.” Visit her website, www.TinkyCooks.com