Apr 14, 2008

Black Maria by Diana Wynne Jones

Shortly after Mig’s father dies in an automobile accident, her mother agrees that the family is to spend Easter with Aunt Maria at Cranbury-on-Sea. The sweet old lady is very distressed by the death of her nephew, and she keeps reminding Mig’s mother that they are now the only family she has.

But when they arrive, they soon realize that despite her teddy bear-ish appearance, Aunt Maria is an expert at manipulating others into doing exactly what she wishes. Among lace curtains and tea parties, she rules Cranbury-on-Sea with an iron fist. The more Mig and her brother Chris observe what is happening around them, the more they realize that there is something very sinister about Aunt Maria and her lovely seaside town. The men act like zombies and the children act like clones. Twelve other ladies (whom Mig and Chris baptize the “Mrs Urs”) revolve around Aunt Maria like the members of a court. To make matters more interesting, there is a ghost in Chris’ room. And there seems to be more to their father’s accident than meets the eye.

I know I begin all my posts about her books in the same way, but let me get it off my chest: I love Diana Wynne Jones. There. With that out of the way, I will now explain why I loved this book in particular. First of all, Mig is such a great narrator – funny and warm and serious and smart. She tells the story in the first person: she’s writing in her journal as events unfold. But as she confesses at the end, she did go back to edit things and add details and such. This adds another layer of wonderfulness to what already is a very wonderful story. Mig’s enthusiasm for writing is contagious, and her voice turns Black Maria into a story that is also about the act of telling stories.

In addition to this, this story has a tight plot that makes you go “ohh!” more than once, it has characters that are fully believable no matter how eccentric they may be – and to whom there’s often more than meets the eye – it has magic, cats, time travel and ghosts, and it has several deliciously humorous moments. At its core, Black Maria is a warm and intelligent story about the dangers of self-righteousness and manipulation, and about the utter silliness of gender stereotypes – about what can happen if men and women regard each other as members of a different species, if they start believing that they simply cannot communicate, that they are male or female before being simply people.

Add this all up, and the result couldn’t be anything but a winner. Not in Diana Wynne Jones’ hands anyway.

Other Opinions:
Everyday Reads

19 comments:

  1. Sounds awesome! Cats and magic plus a little old lady controlling a seaside town, what more could you want! It's on my list.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Black Maria is such a good book - I hadn't read it in years, but I dug it out yesterday after reading your review - Thanks.
    My favorite DWJ book is Archer's Goon - have you read it yet?

    ReplyDelete
  3. I havent't read anything by Diana Wynne Jones, but I do have one of her books in my pile - Howl's Moving Castle. I got this because I enjoyed the animation so much!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  4. This sounds like a great read! I have it on my list already. I don't think I've read any books by her, but it sounds like I need to.

    ReplyDelete
  5. A new Diana wynne Jones that I haven't read yet! oh joy, oh bliss, oh another birthday present for me....thanks for your review, Nymeth, I love DWJ and have most of her books, but my fantasy buying/reading slowed while I was having two babies the last few years, so I missed this one. It sounds really good, too. I have to say that Howl's Moving Castle is one of my favourites by her. Great review of it, too!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Rhinoa: What more could you want indeed. I think you'll enjoy this one!

    Ken: Noooo, but so many people have said it's their favourite. I really have to read it. It's funny, originally I had it on my list for the YA challenge, but I replaced it with Black Maria because I found a cheap used copy in great condition. But I need to treat myself to Archer's Goon, and your comment might just be the excuse I need :P My favourite so far is Fire & Hemlock, and I can't imagine anything beating that one for me (although I'd love to be proven wrong, of course)

    Melody: Howl's Moving castle is great! I enjoyed the movie a lot too, even though quite a few changes were made.

    Kim: You do! She's one of my very favourites.

    Susan: Howl's is great! I hope you enjoy this one as well - and being a fan of hers, I'm sure you will :)

    ReplyDelete
  7. I want to read this one! You've got me adding tons of books to my wish list you know :)

    ReplyDelete
  8. Sorry Iliana :P We book bloggers keep doing that to one another :P

    ReplyDelete
  9. I read this ages ago and remember absolutely loving it - but my memories are dim, so looks like it's time to do a reread. I love love love Diana Wynne Jones's books, too! I mean, what's not to like?! :-)

    Thanks for bringing this one back to mind.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Oh my goodness, this looks like another DWJ winner! I had such fun reading through this and I can't wait to get my hands on the book!

    Oh dear, you're making me complete my DWJ collection! Which is not a bad thing really (and something I've been meaning to do anyway) but the book pile is now turning into a book mountain or something :)

    ReplyDelete
  11. Darla: You're welcome! What's not to like indeed :)

    Lightheaded: No, it's not a bad thing :P I need to complete mine as well. I know what you mean about book mountain, though.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Black Maria was one of the last DWJ books I read, and I remember discovering it one day after I'd thought I'd read all of her books. That was a very exciting day.

    ...though maybe not as exciting as the not-so-far-off summer day when her new book is released. !!!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Jennysbooks: I'm so excited about the new book :D

    ReplyDelete
  14. Oh, oh, oh...I must find this book! It sounds positively wonderful!

    ReplyDelete
  15. Hi Nymeth! The link on the YA Challenge for this post doesn't work, so I'm relinking it now. :)

    ReplyDelete
  16. Oops! Thanks for relinking it, Joy!

    ReplyDelete
  17. Based on this post, I now have THREE DWJ books checked out from the library. . . she is so wonderful.

    Dogsbody will always be my favorite because it's the first of hers I ever read (back in junior high!) but I also love Howl's Moving Castle. Sophie Hatter is my hero.

    ReplyDelete
  18. If I didn't already love this book, your review of it would make me run out and buy it straight away. I do often wonder why it's not more popular among her books.

    ReplyDelete

Thank you so much for taking the time to comment - interaction is one of my favourite things about blogging and a huge part of what keeps me going.