IN A LAND OF PAPER GODS.

IN A LAND OF PAPER GODS by  REBECCA MACKENZIE.

BACK COVER BLURB: Jiangxi Province, China, 1941. Atop the fabled mountain of Lushan perches a boarding school for the children of British missionaries. While her parents pursue their calling, ten-year-old Henrietta S. Robertson discovers that she, too, has been singled out by the Lord.

As Japanese invaders draw closer, Etta and her dorm mates retreat into a world where boundaries between make believe and reality become dangerously blurred. So begins a remarkable journey, through a mystical landscape and to the heart of a war.

FIRST SENTENCE: My name is Henrietta S. Robertson

MEMORABLE MOMENT {Page 133}: 'If God is so good, then why do I feel so lonely?'

We began one of our lists. 'You're not lonely, you've got us.' We all piled on her bed now. We spoke as one. 'You've got God, your mother and father who are Christians, a school with Aunty Muriel and us.'

'And a brassiere,' said Fiona, who would know because they shared a cupboard.

SOURCE: A reading group read.

MY THOUGHTS: An enjoyable enough read in so far as, whilst hopefully less shallow, I saw much of my younger self in the highly imaginative ten year old daydreamer, Etta. However, overall ....

I found the novel slow. So slow that at times I found myself wondering not only just where the plot was going but if it was going anywhere at all.

Oddly tame, what I can only describe as sanitised, Tenko it wasn't. Even the 'harrowing' bits of the book (which I won't go into in detail here for fear of spoilers but suffice to say part the latter chapters of the book are set in a prisoner of war camp) were, well, unbelievably civilised. 

What could have been a great exploration into the various relationships - that between the children themselves, the children and the 'native staff', the children and their parents. A missed opportunity in my opinion. The fact that here were a group of 'Christian' children who to all intents and purposes were sent away by their missionary parents intent on converting the natives whilst always present was largely lacking in poignancy, apart from the fact that Etta would not recognise her parents if it weren't for the photograph by her bed and one all to brief episode involving a visit by a parent the author somehow failing to convey how painful it must have been.

A debut novel. Whilst In A Land Of Paper Gods wan't altogether a hit with me, beautifully descriptive, I'd be interested to see what else Rebecca Mackenzie is capable of.