Madeleine and Rogan are first cousins, best friends, twinned souls, each other’s first love. Even within their large, disorderly family—all descendants of a famous actress—their intensity and passion for theater sets them apart. It makes them a little dangerous. When they are cast in their school’s production of Twelfth Night, they are forced to face their separate talents and futures, and their future together. This masterful short novel, winner of the World Fantasy Award, is magic on paper.
Illyria
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Book Description
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Editorial Reviews
From Booklist
*Starred Review* Growing up in 1970s Yonkers, Maddy and Rogan were called the “kissing cousins” of the Tierney clan. In a secret attic space, they find a toy theater, complete with lighting and stage effects that appear like magic, but no actors or audience. As their discovery stirs within them the desire to create, Aunt Kate, mysterious and unnaturally beautiful, brings their abilities to a boil. Determined to restore the family's long-abandoned theatrical heritage, Kate pushes Maddy and Rogan to nurture their gifts in the school's production of Twelfth Night. However, Rogan's wild nature is ever at odds with his haunting, melodious singing voice, and Maddy's glamour, no doubt the gift of their great-grandmother, an ingénue of the stage, shines dimly in the brilliance of Rogan's fey charms. Winner of the World Fantasy Award, Hand's slim novella is sublime and daring; she makes no mystery about the nature of the 15-year-old cousins' relationship. It's as sweet, sexual, obsessive, and devastating as any other first love. YA readers are entrusted with a narrative of burgeoning and squandered talent, unapologetic incest, familial decline on par with that of Faulkner's Compson family, and a hard-won ending that's, at best, tenuously hopeful. The subtlety and raw ache of the prose, and the realistic portrayal of artistic lives, triumphantly heralds Hand's arrival into youth fiction. Grades 10-12. --Courtney Jones
Review
"This intense, sensual and bittersweet love story unfolds in hauntingly lyrical prose and should appeal to mature teens." --Kirkus
"Beautifully written, rich in theatrical detail and intensely realized characters." --Publishers Weekly, starred review
"The subtlety and raw ache of the prose, and the realistic portrayal of artistic lives, triumphantly heralds Hand's arrival into youth fiction." --Booklist, starred review
"Romantic readers will be swept through the short novel... and will be left blinking in surprise...beyond the final page." --Horn Book
"[R]eaders will be as compelled by the strangely connected cousins as they may be disconcerted." --The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books
"Beautifully written, rich in theatrical detail and intensely realized characters." --Publishers Weekly, starred review
"The subtlety and raw ache of the prose, and the realistic portrayal of artistic lives, triumphantly heralds Hand's arrival into youth fiction." --Booklist, starred review
"Romantic readers will be swept through the short novel... and will be left blinking in surprise...beyond the final page." --Horn Book
"[R]eaders will be as compelled by the strangely connected cousins as they may be disconcerted." --The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books
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More About the Author
A couple of years after seeing Patti Smith perform, Elizabeth Hand flunked out of college and became involved in the nascent punk scenes in DC and NYC. From 1979 to 1986 she worked at the Smithsonian Institution's National Air & Space Museum; she was eventually readmitted to university to study cultural anthropology, and received her B.A. She is the author of many novels, including Winterlong, Waking the Moon (Tiptree and Mythopoeic Award-Winner), Glimmering, and Mortal Love, and three collections of stories, including the recent Saffron and Brimstone. Her fiction has received the Nebula, World Fantasy, Mythopeoic, Tiptree, and International Horror Guild Awards, and her novels have been chose as New York Times and Washington Post Notable Books. She has also been awarded a Maine Arts Commission Fellowship. A regular contributor to the Washington Post Book World and The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, Hand lives with her family on the Maine Coast.
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Madeleine and Rogan Tierney are first cousins and descendants of the great stage actress Madeleine Armin Tierney. They live with their many relatives at Arden Terrace, a gated community with large, rambling houses in Yonkers, and as the youngest cousins they are the closest--so close that they share a connection no one else could ever comprehend, and ultimately fall in love. Encouraged by their glamorous Aunt Kate to pursue their legacy in theater, the two participate in their school's production of Twelfth Night, which causes all sorts of feelings and emotions to swell, and forces Madeleine and Rogan to face the uncertainty of their future together.
Illyria's setting is rich and lush, from the depictions of how Madeleine and Rogan spent their childhoods to the details in the sprawling, decaying homes that their families inhabit. Hand's writing is indeed intense, and the relationship she builds between the cousins is full of tension and passion, especially when they share private moments in the attic of Rogan's house, watching the tiny, magical toy theater they found. It is evident through their roles in Twelfth Night that both Madeleine and Rogan possess talent for the stage, but while one of them wastes it, the other embraces it, cleaving the two and showing them each very different futures. Though more practical-minded readers may have a hard time grasping the point of this short novel, Hand's writing is beautiful and her imagery vivid. Like any great tragedy, Illyria is haunting and gorgeous.
Illyria's setting is rich and lush, from the depictions of how Madeleine and Rogan spent their childhoods to the details in the sprawling, decaying homes that their families inhabit. Hand's writing is indeed intense, and the relationship she builds between the cousins is full of tension and passion, especially when they share private moments in the attic of Rogan's house, watching the tiny, magical toy theater they found. It is evident through their roles in Twelfth Night that both Madeleine and Rogan possess talent for the stage, but while one of them wastes it, the other embraces it, cleaving the two and showing them each very different futures. Though more practical-minded readers may have a hard time grasping the point of this short novel, Hand's writing is beautiful and her imagery vivid. Like any great tragedy, Illyria is haunting and gorgeous.
6 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Maddy and Rogan are first cousins; actually their fathers are identical twins so genetically they're half-siblings. They share the same birthday, are each the youngest of six children and grew up together on the same street. They are also passionately and hopelessly in love with each other. They steal time together hidden away in Rogan's attic where they find an enchanted toy theater.
Maddy and Rogan's great-grandmother was a famous stage actress. When Maddy and Rogan are both cast in their school's production of Twelfth Night, they realize the extent of their own talents for acting and must decide what that means for their futures, both together and separately.
Okay, I'll just be honest here. After reading the other reviews of this book, I'm feeling pretty dumb. It's gotten rave reviews all over the place and won the World Fantasy Award for Best Novella. I enjoyed it but I feel like I must have missed something. I wanted more. I wanted to know why the theater was in the attic and why it was enchanted and who put it there. I kept waiting for it to have more of a role in the story and it never did. The reviewer who wrote: "Though more practical-minded readers may have a hard time grasping the point of this short novel, Hand's writing is beautiful and her imagery vivid." sums it up nicely. I am too practical (and maybe not smart enough) for this book.
Maddy and Rogan's great-grandmother was a famous stage actress. When Maddy and Rogan are both cast in their school's production of Twelfth Night, they realize the extent of their own talents for acting and must decide what that means for their futures, both together and separately.
Okay, I'll just be honest here. After reading the other reviews of this book, I'm feeling pretty dumb. It's gotten rave reviews all over the place and won the World Fantasy Award for Best Novella. I enjoyed it but I feel like I must have missed something. I wanted more. I wanted to know why the theater was in the attic and why it was enchanted and who put it there. I kept waiting for it to have more of a role in the story and it never did. The reviewer who wrote: "Though more practical-minded readers may have a hard time grasping the point of this short novel, Hand's writing is beautiful and her imagery vivid." sums it up nicely. I am too practical (and maybe not smart enough) for this book.
5 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
Though the supposedly YA orientation of this novella doesn't precisely play to Hand's hallucinogenic style, there's enough mystery, romance, and glamour on hand to make this a fun read. Though length and structure-wise it feels more like a novella than a short novel, the length is well-suited to the parlor romance feel of the material.
And though this is pitched as YA, and Hand crops her style accordingly, in the end the overall vibe is more a middle-aged memory piece than YA romancer. That's not a criticism, just an observation.
And though this is pitched as YA, and Hand crops her style accordingly, in the end the overall vibe is more a middle-aged memory piece than YA romancer. That's not a criticism, just an observation.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Haunting and magical...
I am a big fan of Elizabeth Hand and was thrilled to read about her newest book. I was not disappointed. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Leslie Gallager
4.0 out of 5 stars
like Buffalo Blue Cheese Kettle Chips for the strong, poetic...
This one would have gotten the 5 stars if only it hadn't felt so summarized (especially at the end) and if only we could have had a bit more emotional resolution from... Read more
Published 2 months ago by kblincoln
2.0 out of 5 stars
Disappointing, and definitely NOT suitable for YA's
A quick, but quite disappointing read. It's a book that does not have a resolution, or at least not one that I bought into. If there was a point to the story, I missed it. Read more
Published 5 months ago by Bob Nolin
4.0 out of 5 stars
Twinned souls with divergent paths to the dark and the light
Madeleine and Rogan are first cousins born from twin brothers. The two live with their extended families in a compound of homes. Read more
Published 15 months ago by Michelle Boytim
5.0 out of 5 stars
Sinfully Beautiful
I sometimes think there are books that the more is said the more injustice is done. Illyria is one
of those books for me. Read more
of those books for me. Read more
Published 23 months ago by AReader'sRecord
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fantastic
Maddy and Rogan were cousins. But the magic between them was not very cousinly and was looked down upon by both their families. Read more
Published on March 8, 2011 by Brittany Moore
5.0 out of 5 stars
Her Best Yet!
I've been a hand fan for many years, and Illyria is some of her best work. Good to see that Kindle is posting some of her books. Read more
Published on February 21, 2011 by Kim
5.0 out of 5 stars
Haunting Romance
I adored this novella by Elizabeth Hand about 'kissing cousins', Madeleine and Rogan. Bite size novel, but a whole lot of story with heart. Read more
Published on February 18, 2011 by Laura
5.0 out of 5 stars
hauntingly beautiful
Illyria feels like it's set in some make-believe world where eccentric aunts never age, miniature theatres come to life, every house has a ghost light, and where Maddy's childhood... Read more
Published on February 7, 2011 by Lawral Wornek
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great for adults too!
I have been reading Liz Hand for years and am always impressed with her creativity. Illyria is a great read for mid life adults as it reminds you what it's like to be a teenager... Read more
Published on December 26, 2010 by am
