Customer Reviews

A Little Lower Than the Angels

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I am increasingly fascinated by a narrow seam of so-called children's books that actually touch on universal themes so powerfully that they transcend categories. Alan Garner's Stone Quartet was the last book of this sort I read. Interestingly this one also starts with ancient stone-masonry, but swiftly moves in another tangent as Gabriel (the mason's miserable brutalised apprentice) encounters and runs away with a group of mystery players. The setting is mediaeval and the hand of god hangs heavily over the populace, scared of damnation, eachother and the plague in equal parts. I absolutely loved it and soaked up the gorgeous writing and powerful characterisation. As a writer, she is less terse than Garner, but matches his serious and sombre outlook - I will say (without giving anything away) that it has a much happier ending than I had feared.

A little lower than the angels by Geraldine McCaughrean is not a new book. In fact, it won the Whitbread Children's Novel Award in 1987. But I enjoyed reading it this week. The story takes place in the feudal era and features several likeable characters, including Gabriel, a stonemason's apprentice who leaves an abusive master to play the part of an angel in a traveling play group. His new master sets up a miracle cure hoax that has believing peasants showering Gabriel with money and gifts, and making him believe that he can produce miracles. His friend Izzie and her father Lucie try to warn him, to no avail. Gabriel will learn the hard way who he really is and who matters and doesn't in his life. This is a classic growing up story, albeit in a fascinating setting. The main characters are vivid, the atmosphere is heavy and real, and values of loyalty, honor, and even literacy are at the core of the book.