Title: Kindling
Author: Kathleen Jennings
Reviewer: Natalie Lincoln
Audience: Stage 6
Kindling draws together an obscure array of shadowy fantasy and fairy tale stories. Each quite different from the next, the reader is not quite sure where the next journey will take them. This is both a strength and weakness as the detail of some confuses, while others you wish to be an entire novel. All of the stories are unapologetic in their belief in magic and possibility.
The first story, ‘The Heart of Owl Abbas’ admittedly had me a little lost as I tried to follow the unfamiliar and strange, though I enjoyed the infusion of music throughout. Moving on, in particular I enjoyed the sad and beautiful ‘Ella and the Flame’ and ‘Not to Be Taken’. ‘Annie Coal 'and ‘Undine Love’ came tinged with an entertaining dry wit, demonstrating further diversity in style.
The female protagonists of each tale are important. They foreground the courage of women and the power of telling their stories. Many are underestimated and refuse to be held back by men. The motif of birds abounds – owls, and most enjoyably for me, crows – wisened, capable and with a desire for freedom. Water too is frequently mentioned - the ocean, rivers and lakes. Coupled with the birds, the sense is given that women are born, reborn, cleansed and forged from the fire wrought by kindling.
These factors would have me use this collection, or pieces amongst it, with an Extension I or II English class. The vocabulary is such that I would recommend it to older readers in any case, but the strong, consistent use of motifs to flesh out the nuances of the ideas, is clever and thought provoking and a good lesson for budding writers.
Overall, the collection varies in its ‘readability’. Some are certainly easier to trace than others. Those that are more accessible are gold, however, and worth their weight in detail, both in writing style and concept.