On the third night after the day her father died, Liesl saw the ghost.
Liesl lives in a tiny attic bedroom, locked away from her cruel stepmother. Her only friends are the shadows and the mice - until one night a ghost appears from the darkness. It is Po, who comes from the Other Side. Both Liesl and Po are lonely, but together they are less alone.
That same night, an alchemist's apprentice, Will, bungles an important delivery. He accidentally switches a box containing the most powerful magic in the world with one containing something decidedly less remarkable.
Will's mistake has tremendous consequences for Liesl and Po, and it draws the three of them together on an extraordinary journey.
LIESL & PO by Lauren Oliver
Genre: Middle Grade Fiction, Adventure, Magic, Paranormal
Published: 2011
My rating: ⭐⭐⭐
Liesl & Po is a pure hearted and whimsical middle grade fiction, ideal for lovers of magic, otherworldliness and adventure. It deals with themes of loss and loneliness in a way that's relatable to adults and children alike.
Newly orphaned, Liesl wants only to bring the ashes of her father, who's recently passed, to a final resting place under the willow tree where her mother is also buried. Guiding her on this journey is Po, a ghost whose gender has long ago begun to blur, and Bundle, the ghost of what might once have been a dog...or a cat. They've both been on The Other Side for so long that they've begun to blur.
Along the way, through a strange set of circumstances that force their lives to collide, they meet Will who's fleeing his master, a powerful Alchemist, following a mix up that seems somehow to relate back to Liesl.
Together they journey to help Liesl find the willow tree to achieve the closure on the life she no longer has, and to say a final goodbye to her father.
There are so many familiar fairy-tale elements packed into this book that I think readers will recognise: a little girl locked in an attic, an evil stepmother, a alchemist's apprentice, a ghost guide from the other side.
The characters are quirky and stereotypical of their architypes: the kindly guard, the evil stepmother who's ugly inside and out, the foreboding lady of the manor, the spindly tricky magician.
This is the sort of book I would have read a multitude of times as a child, knowing each page back to front, and re-examining the drawings incorporated that bring the characters to life and give definition to the environment.
This is the first of Lauren Oliver's books I've read, but I understand it to be unlike any other she's written. I can see how this story unfolded from a personal place, as Lauren Oliver wrote this book whilst grieving the death of her best friend. To have her character, Liesl, fight and journey to lay her loved one to rest must have been cathartic.
Reading this in her acknowledgements at the end of the book made me look at the story with new eyes.
I can understand her depictions of the ghosts and The Other Side blurring for those who haven't yet moved Beyond. Everyone wants to think of their loved ones in spirit as golden, glittering angels, not as blurred spirits who've lost their essence of humanity. But in reality, no one knows what happens when we move on.
This wasn't one of my all time favourite reads, but nevertheless, it does have an ease and a familiarity about it that feels comforting. I can't overlook it, and I recommend it for younger readers, or for anyone wanting to be reminded of childhood.
Zuzu 🖋
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This sounds like a lovely little read, thank you for sharing your lovely review as always 💗xx
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