'That afternoon, as I left him in the kitchen and went upstairs to the library room, a light switched itself on. One moment, I was on the the twilit stairs, carrying a notebook in one hand and a cup of tea in the other, and the next the room ahead of me was flooded with brightness.
I stopped and listened. No sound.'
'When I smelled that perfume, I was drawn back helplessly into a sunlit world of Maman's flaky almond biscuits with their hint of bitter apricot kernel, earth-like cocoa powder clinging to our bare legs, light, warm winds sifting sugared scents from the kitchen where the orange mirabelles were being bottled; and on, far beyond the aromatic, to the distant sound of the goat bells .....'
'Too late an image flared in my mind: the battered old lantern with the stub of candle burning. The puddle of light on the path. But by then I had been dismissed and was on my way out. I could have turned back and mentioned it. But I didn't.'
These snippets are from 'The Lantern' by Deborah Lawrenson.
I hope that you find the flavour of the novel and the subtlety of the words and the way in which they are used entice you into reading the book.
6 comments:
Great Snippets! I love the descriptions in the middle 'snippet'. I have wanted to read 'The Lantern' for a while, but this post makes me want to read it even more!
Pasaba a saludarte me voy de vacaciones hasta Septiembre,
que tengas una feliz semana.
un abrazo.
Sounds like a great read! Thanks for sharing. xo style, she wrote
Those snip-its make me long for me=ore. Hope to read this one sometime.
oh wow, i have been keeping up with Deborah's book and these are great snippets to give a good flavor of the book...thanks for sharing, i can't wait to read it....and that pink hibiscus is fabulous...wow!! how delicious is that?? xox
To each of you I would say, "Yes, read 'The Lantern', particularly as it is so well written". I hope that the snippets hint at both the darkness and the light.
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