Sunday, April 15, 2007 / 8:14 PM
I have finished Keturah and Lord Death by Martine Leavitt at last. Gosh. I'm breathless and awed by the story. All I can say is...I LOVE it. It's going to be in my all-time favourites list. Aww.
A young girl, Keturah, finds herself lost in the forest after following a majestic hart. Soon, she faces death. Lord Death, as he comes in the form a a handsome young man. She has a choice to sacrifice someone else's life for her own, but noble soul that she is, she doesn't. She bargains to live by telling a story about how true love will overcome death instead. Death gives her a boon - if she can find true love before he next comes for her, he will let her live. If not, she will become Death's bride. And so Keturah gets a reprieve. Unfortunately, she also finds out that her beloved village will be no longer for plague will soon come. She is then found and welcomed back while everybody wonders about how she survived Death.
Keturah continues to find her true love in hopes of saving herself. She delays her death for another day each time she meets Death with another story. She faces many obstacles in her way - the villagers suspicion that she is a harbinger of death, readying the poor, shabby town for a king's visit, and the coming of the plague. Keturah manages to overcome all of these obstacles, but she still has yet to find her one and true love. As time goes by, she has saved a few villagers for the promise of her own life and a few kisses. In her quest, she finds her friends their own true love and receives a confession of love from young John Temsland who has been supporting her all this while. But, in the end, as her time is up, she surrenders herself to Lord Death. But this is no sad ending, for she slowly realises that she loves Lord Death and has loved him ever since she came to see him all through her life. Young John tries to stop her and fails, and she rides off into eternity with her beloved Lord Death. Everyone, is later found to have happy endings.
And that is how I have come to love this story. I tried to fit in everything that I felt, that I read, in the above paragraphs. But I am no storyteller and there is only so much I can write without retelling the whole book right here. Plus, I think what I wrote detracts the essence of the story and makes it feel inconsequential now. If you want to know more (and get the story straight), read the book. I highly recommend it. Well, I will continue to find the fairytale in every ending and story. sigh.
Other titles I recommend:
Fairest by Gail Carson Levine
Phoenix Dance by Dia Calhoun
Fairest is a tale of discovering that you only need be who you are. It cautions us that beauty can sometimes be destroying.
Phoenix Dance is about finding your true self amidst self-doubt, bipolar disorder and how we can overcome it.
P.S >> This is the blurb from the book cover. I hope this expresses the book more eloquently than I did just now.
"Keturah follows a legendary hart into the king's forest, where she becomes hopelessly lost. Her strength diminishes until, finally, she realizes that death is near. Little does she know that he is a young, handsome lord, melancholy and stern. Renowned for her storytelling, Keturah is able to charm Lord Death with a story and thereby gain a reprieve--but only for twenty-four hours She must find her one true love within that time, or all is lost. Keturah searches desperately while the village prepares for an unexpected visit from the king and Keturah is thrust into a prominent role as mysterious happenings alarm her friends and neighbors. Lord Death's presence hovers over this all until Keturah confronts him one last time in the harrowing climax."
A young girl, Keturah, finds herself lost in the forest after following a majestic hart. Soon, she faces death. Lord Death, as he comes in the form a a handsome young man. She has a choice to sacrifice someone else's life for her own, but noble soul that she is, she doesn't. She bargains to live by telling a story about how true love will overcome death instead. Death gives her a boon - if she can find true love before he next comes for her, he will let her live. If not, she will become Death's bride. And so Keturah gets a reprieve. Unfortunately, she also finds out that her beloved village will be no longer for plague will soon come. She is then found and welcomed back while everybody wonders about how she survived Death.
Keturah continues to find her true love in hopes of saving herself. She delays her death for another day each time she meets Death with another story. She faces many obstacles in her way - the villagers suspicion that she is a harbinger of death, readying the poor, shabby town for a king's visit, and the coming of the plague. Keturah manages to overcome all of these obstacles, but she still has yet to find her one and true love. As time goes by, she has saved a few villagers for the promise of her own life and a few kisses. In her quest, she finds her friends their own true love and receives a confession of love from young John Temsland who has been supporting her all this while. But, in the end, as her time is up, she surrenders herself to Lord Death. But this is no sad ending, for she slowly realises that she loves Lord Death and has loved him ever since she came to see him all through her life. Young John tries to stop her and fails, and she rides off into eternity with her beloved Lord Death. Everyone, is later found to have happy endings.
And that is how I have come to love this story. I tried to fit in everything that I felt, that I read, in the above paragraphs. But I am no storyteller and there is only so much I can write without retelling the whole book right here. Plus, I think what I wrote detracts the essence of the story and makes it feel inconsequential now. If you want to know more (and get the story straight), read the book. I highly recommend it. Well, I will continue to find the fairytale in every ending and story. sigh.
Other titles I recommend:
Fairest by Gail Carson Levine
Phoenix Dance by Dia Calhoun
Fairest is a tale of discovering that you only need be who you are. It cautions us that beauty can sometimes be destroying.
Phoenix Dance is about finding your true self amidst self-doubt, bipolar disorder and how we can overcome it.
P.S >> This is the blurb from the book cover. I hope this expresses the book more eloquently than I did just now.
"Keturah follows a legendary hart into the king's forest, where she becomes hopelessly lost. Her strength diminishes until, finally, she realizes that death is near. Little does she know that he is a young, handsome lord, melancholy and stern. Renowned for her storytelling, Keturah is able to charm Lord Death with a story and thereby gain a reprieve--but only for twenty-four hours She must find her one true love within that time, or all is lost. Keturah searches desperately while the village prepares for an unexpected visit from the king and Keturah is thrust into a prominent role as mysterious happenings alarm her friends and neighbors. Lord Death's presence hovers over this all until Keturah confronts him one last time in the harrowing climax."
