Sweets for Sad-Souls

The Miraculous Sweetmakers: The Frost Fair by Natasha Hastings

Natasha Hastings does not pull her punches. The Miraculous Sweetmakers: The Frost Fair, her debut novel, begins with the sudden death of a nine-year-old boy. Thomasina has lost her twin brother to an asthma attack and the guilt, shame and grief that dog her afterwards are the lasting echoes of the tragedy. A glittering backdrop of London's Great Frost of 1683 forms the silvery patina on this novel which is, at heart, a moving story of a family coming to terms with loss. 

A number of times in the novel, particularly during the early chapters, I sensed not inappropriate nods to Susanna Clarke's Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell: both books deal with the sometimes discomforting aspect of being human; both employ the supernatural-as-metaphor to present this truth. There are some tiny, rather wonderful, allusions to Clarke's story: a mysterious nocturnal visitor claiming to have the means to bring back Arthur - Thomasina's brother - from the dead; the strident, show-offish demonstration of conjuring up fantastic horses (here a kelpie!) from the sea as tempting proof of the visitor's power;  there is even, near the end, a throwaway description of that same visitor commenting on the wildness of another's hair - 'thistledown' thatch, perhaps...? But listing these little nods is not to belittle the originality of Hastings' own novel. The Frost Fair is a gourmet confection created from all the best parts of our beloved reading. Characters and scenes whirl in through the pages then out again, leaving light dustings of The Dark is Rising, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, and Northern Lights to name but a few. 

Whilst The Frost Fair is, in one important way, a love letter to the joys of reading, there is no forgetting that it is ultimately about grief, moreover the depression that can form as a result of trauma. Since Arthur's death, Thomasina's family has become dysfunctional*: Thomasina is confused and lonely, Father brooding and angry, Mother desperately ill and distant. (It's interesting, though, that perhaps fate was always waiting in the wings for the family, whether Arthur had died or not - there are hints towards the end of the book that their Father had not quite foreseen how his children were to turn out had they both grown to adulthood...) The family barely communicate, if at all, and so at Inigo's fairy-(faery?!!)-godmother-figure arrival, he is even more persuasive to Thomasina's desperate, guilt-clouded mind. 

Despite the icy chill of the plot (and it really does become horribly cold), the subtle shaping of the characters, especially Thomasina, Anne and Henry, lends a warm glow throughout that is never extinguished...and this is a vital part of how the book manages its darker themes for a younger audience, leaving them with hope. 

Hope...and sweets!

***

The Miraculous Sweetmakers: The Frost Fair by Natasha Hastings is published by Harper Collins. Illustrations throughout are by Alex T. Smith.