Engaging first novel more than zombie tale
Courtney Cates, Special to the Gazette
Friday, May 15, 2009
“The Forest of Hands and Teeth” by Carrie Ryan, Delacorte Press, 2009, $16.99.
By Courtney Cates
Special to The Gazette
Imagine a postapocalyptic world in which you and a small village of survivors are the only humans left in existence. A place where people live in constant fear of death and loss, and a woman’s only choice in life is to marry and reproduce or to join the village convent.
This is a stark reality for Mary, the teenage heroine in Carrie Ryan’s intensely engaging debut novel, “The Forest of Hands and Teeth.”
Mary’s village is isolated, cut off from the rest of the world by a chain link fence, which protects them from hordes of the “unconsecrated,” or zombies.
The villagers are forever on edge, knowing that at any moment, these relentless creatures could break through the fence and destroy all life. Mary’s life changes forever when she suffers the loss of the person she cares about most in the world. The town is controlled by “the sisterhood,” a group of nuns who are the keepers of dark secrets that Mary is determined to uncover. She becomes unsure of everything in her life, and begins to question whether or not she and her people are really alone in the world.
Mary’s curiosity continues to grow as she fantasizes about the stories her mother recounted to her as a young child. Stories of buildings so tall they touched the sky and of an unfathomable thing called the ocean.
People in her town no longer believe in these things that supposedly existed before the plague of unconsecrated destroyed the planet.
These tales are never far from her mind as she fights to free herself from the terror and constraints of her village. At the heart of this beautifully written tale is a heart-wrenching love story that draws you in and allows you to empathize with the characters as they are “torn between duty and love.”
Mary and her friends are forced to fight for their lives against insurmountable odds; however, she never gives up hope of something better. Her optimism amid such dire circumstances is inspiring and makes the reader pull for her to fulfill her dream of someday finding the ocean and the outside world. Not your typical “zombie” story, this young adult novel focuses more on the heroine’s struggles than the monsters themselves. The story is terrifying, yet beautiful and one that can be enjoyed by both teens and adults alike.
Ryan’s vivid description of a young girl’s journey to find truth and love in her world will draw you in and leave you wanting more.
Her lyrical prose and powerful plot will keep you thinking about the story long after it ends. A proposed sequel is set to be released in the spring of 2010.
For more information about the author or the novel, visit Carrie Ryan’s Web site, http://www.carrieryan.com.
• Staff and volunteers at the Emporia Public Library write “On the Shelf.”