Elsa is used to hiding the most important parts of herself—her feelings for Rye, her distaste for a world ruled by men, and, most crucially, her gift of songlight. She buries that secret deep inside. In Brightland, those with songlight are called Unhumans and are abhorred. Rye is the only other person Elsa has known with songlight, and their shared bond has brought them together.
Elsa’s world begins to fall apart one desperate, heart-wrenching day and she doesn’t know where to turn until a girl appears before her. But the girl isn’t really there—her songlight has been drawn to Elsa’s frantic grief.
Elsa lives in a remote seaside village; Nightingale, her new friend, lives in a city hundreds of miles away with her father, a government official responsible for rooting out Unhumans. The two never expected to connect via songlight. But when they do, and when they realize the extent of their power, they’ll be thrust in the middle of a war that threatens their very existence.
I'm always fascinated by anything with superpowers. How will the author use it to parallel current events? What are the ins and outs? In Songlight we're introduced to a form of telepathy that only works between certain individuals - it reminds me a little of The Tomorrow People, in its' various forms.
Moira builds her world beautifully, giving us just the right amount of background at just the right time. I was never confused by what's going on - and there's a lot going on, starting in the crushingly patriarchal village Elsa lives in, where soldiers returning from the glorious war are given two wives. The duty of every woman is to provide more sons for the endless war. Girls not chosen for this wonderful purpose are sterilised and sent to a brothel instead. Shades of Handmaids Tale, but very engrossing!
I enjoyed the plot, but I found the frequently changing POVs to be confusing in spots. One character simply falls away about two thirds of the way through - he may be important in later books, but it was odd to have him simply vanish from the story like that.
As well, the POVs are headed with the names the Torches use among themselves, which isn't usually their actual name. I found this confusing at first, it took me a while to 'hook' the fake name to the character. But I'm sure some readers will love it!
From about halfway through, politics is increasingly important in the story, as we meet and follow several of the most important people in the government. I found this well presented and made sense, but I know some readers won't enjoy reading about a political struggle.
I very much enjoyed reading this, and I can't wait for future installments - there's plenty more story in this world, and I'm excited to see where Elsa, Rye and their friends and allies find themselves next.
Moira Buffini is one of the UK’s leading playwrights and screenwriters. Most recently she wrote the screenplay for The Dig (directed by Simon Stone), which earned her a Bafta nomination, and co-created and showran the Hulu TV series Harlots, which ran for three seasons. Moira’s other film work includes Jane Eyre (directed by Cary Fukanaga) Tamara Drewe (directed by Stephen Frears) and Byzantium (directed by Neil Jordan). She has also written four plays for the National Theatre, including Welcome to Thebes (Writers Guild Award nominee), and Dinner (Olivier nominee), which later transferred to the West End. Her other plays include Handbagged, for which she won an Olivier Award.
Buy links:
Amazon UK
Amazon.com
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