"I was expecting the jacket design to clearly demonstrate that this was a departure for Sacher, an important one, from children’s to adult writing ..."
I am in a bit of a quandary with The Magician of Tiger Castle. The thing is, Writers Review doesn’t generally feature books for children. I should be in the clear, though. After all, on the back of the book it does say that it is Sacher’s first adult novel. The thing is, I don’t quite believe it.
In the distant past, when I was a school bookseller, I loved Sacher’s first book, Holes. It was quite different from anything else I’d read. It is a children’s book about a corrective institution that forced boys to dig a series of deep holes in the desert for … apparently, no reason at all. After 20 years or so it’s still in print and still popular. So, when I read in the Bookseller that his first novel for adults was due in a couple of months I got quite excited. I requested a review copy from Mountain Leopard Press, an imprint of Headline, and they kindly sent me one. It arrived a few days ago and I immediately sat down to read it.
The jacket jumped out at me as surprisingly not looking like a book for adults. Jacket designs and fashions vary of course, but I suppose I was expecting the jacket design to clearly demonstrate that this was a departure for Sacher, an important one, from children’s to adult writing. Don’t get me wrong. I like the jacket. There are a couple of cheerfully snarling tigers, a fairytale castle and at the bottom, a couple of innocent looking rats. There are daisies threaded along the top and sides and hints of magic to come with a cauldron and a couple of bottles. The illustrations are rather lovely. If my ten-year-old granddaughter saw it she would immediately pick it up and start reading. She loves a bit of magic in her fiction.
Having read the novel, I can honestly say that I did enjoy it. I like Sacher’s humour and his occasional ‘make you stop and think’ sentences. I like the way the magician starts his story in the present, having just taken a tour of the castle and then swiftly takes you back to 1523, the last time he was there. I like the fact that he tells his story in the first person. In short … read it if fairy tales are your thing. Sacher is a very good writer.
I can hear you muttering to yourselves. But … ?
But I can’t stop asking myself if this book is for children or adults. Does that matter? Well no, if you’re an adult. Possibly yes if you are an adult who doesn’t want their child to read the single swear word uttered once, S**t. Also, if you don’t want your child to read a story which hinges around a princess who is expected to consummate her marriage to a prince she doesn’t love. Perhaps, in that case, give it a miss. Though it’s all pretty saccharine stuff. There are a couple of ribald remarks that would either pass a child by or not, depending on their age and understanding. A child might ask a couple of possibly awkward questions about the bits they don’t quite understand. But there are no sex scenes, the word sex isn’t mentioned.
I can remember reading way beyond my understanding when I was a child, taking what I did get and glossing over the bits I didn’t. I think a lot of book mad young readers do that, unless their reading matter is heavily controlled.
So, I’m left trying to second-guess the publisher. It’s clear they want adults to read this charming story. Fine. It also seems clear from the jacket illustration that any child who enjoys Sacher’s work will see his name and happily pick it up and start reading. Fine? Well I’m fine with it, but that word adult is on the back of the book. Why?
I have writer friends who have crossed over from writing for children to write for adults. I’ve done it myself. I can’t remember any of our books for adults being labelled as such. Admittedly, I changed my first name when I wrote for adults, but mine really were not for 7-9 years, the age most children read my children’s books. And the adult novel jackets didn’t shout children, and the font was small. Holes is an excellent teens novel which adults might also enjoy. Personally, I would have wanted to launch this novel as that, or simply let the book find its own audience.
Perhaps Mountain Leopard Press is hoping that this will be Sacher’s breakout book, leading to many more on the adult shelves? Perhaps they will bring out a teens version, taking off the word adult from the jacket? Who knows? That has successfully been done with books for teens that are also published for the adult market.
Perhaps I will attract criticism for not standing up well enough for children’s innocence?
I only have one real issue with the writing. It’s his choice of the word 'regent' for a servant of the king. I would perhaps have called that particular servant the king’s chancellor, or maybe enforcer. In my experience, a regent is a person who rules on the king or queen’s behalf when the monarch is unable due to ill health or young age. King Sandro is very much able to rule and certainly does! The regent is officious but definitely takes his orders from the king. Apart from that quibble, it’s a well written and enjoyable fairytale.
Now I’m off to ask my son if I can allow my granddaughter to have a look at it!
The Magician of Tiger Castle is published in hardback by Mountain Leopard Press.
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