What happens when you return to your ordinary life after living in a magical world like Narnia?
This question forms the premise of Laura E. Weymouth’s debut novel The Light Between Worlds.
With a white stag gleaming from the cover, it doesn’t take much imagination to see that sisters Philippa and Evelyn are the Susan and Lucy of this Narnia-inspired story. The sisters, along with their older brother Jamie, are summoned into another world while hiding in their bomb shelter during World War II. When they return to England six years later, they are restored to their previous ages. But while Jamie strives to improve our world by studying law and Philippa throws herself into projects and parties, Evelyn languishes, longing for the day she will be called home to the Woodlands. Eventually, word reaches Philippa in America that Evelyn has disappeared, and she travels back to England, desperate to learn whether her sister has died or has somehow managed to find her way back to the Woodlands after all.
The first half of the story is given over to Evelyn as we see her struggling to bear up under the weight of worlds and tentatively finding a happiness we hope will last. This section is interspersed with flashbacks to their time in the Woodlands. The second half of the book is dedicated to Philippa and her search for her sister, interspersed with flashbacks to the time after the children returned to England.
The book is aimed at teens and it’s not for younger readers. Heavier topics include self-harm and suicide ideation, which are not glamorized, and there is a small amount of other mature content. The prose is lovely and lyrical and I appreciated the author’s writing style even more as I switched over to listen to it as an audiobook being read by two talented readers, each giving one sister her own voice. The author also mixes in healthy doses of famous poetry and ties in artwork by the masters in a way that feels both achingly right for the story and also well-informed. It makes me want to read poems I clearly missed in school, or revisit the old paintings. (Poems and paintings included in the story are helpfully noted in the end pages.)
The Light Between Worlds isn’t a fast read, nor a rollicking adventure story. It is rather a weighty exploration of the hearts of two sisters. The primary human characters are nicely rounded, though brother Jamie occupies a peripheral spot in the story. I do wish more development had been given to some of the characters in the Woodlands, and to the Woodlands themselves, as I did not feel the connection I think I was meant to. This, and an Aslan stand-in who’s just not Aslan, makes it difficult to understand Evie’s all-consuming longing.
For my money one of the most interesting things this book does (and it does it in a few well-chosen lines) is give us a reason why Philippa focuses so on “powder and pumps.” Weymouth adds development and dignity to a Susan-like character who is trying to find her way in our world, and it is handled deftly. The book also sprinkles in little nods to Narnia in other ways, such as references to long winters, that attentive fans will appreciate.
That said, it’s not a cheery book or an easy one. Much of it is mournful, and I cannot decide how I feel about the ending except to admit that it made me weep. Older fans of Narnia who want to read an exploration of Susan’s character may enjoy this homage but should expect a vast tonal difference from Lewis’ own children’s stories.
