Sunday, November 10, 2013

A TANGLE OF KNOTS by Lisa Graff

Fate's Puzzle.

In this whimsical story, Lisa Graff created an alternative reality wherein people are recognized through the Talent endowed on them, from baking, planting, knitting, even matching people together. Those who are talentless are called Fair, which isn't really a bad thing.
A Talent is only rewarding if you wield it well.
Before our main story begins, Mason Burgess (supposedly an heir to a fortune) was waiting at a bus station when he was engaged by a salesman who got a talent for tying knots.  Before parting ways, the salesman warned Mason not to lose his suitcase.  Well, Mason intended not too, since his future depended on it.
Well, that’s the thing about knots,isn't? …If you don’t know the trick, it’s a muddled predicament.  But in fact each loop of every knot is carefully placed, one twisting right into the other in a way you might not have expected.
It seems the salesman’s talent for tying knots is not limited on ropes, but on life and fate as well.  Fifty-three years later after the bus station encounter, the story picked up at an all-girls’ orphanage.  Eleven-year-old Cady, who has a marvelous talent for baking, is an orphan at Ms. Mallory’s Home for Lost Girls for as far as she could remember.  She’d been through several trial families, and none of them worked so far.  It is her greatest wish to have her own Adoption Day party and bake her own perfect cake.  

Meanwhile, on the other side of the town, Marigold is struggling to learn her talent.  It’s a bit disappointing for her since her two siblings discovered they are early enough.  A certain mishap eventually brought Cady and this ragtag of siblings together in the Lost Luggage Emporium.  From here on, the story will untangle knots, one after the other.   As we very well know, knots are made of twists; and on this story, those twists are certainly engaging and delightful.
It’s the way we deal with what Fate hands us that defines who we are.
A TANGLE OF KNOTS was able to punch the right set of buttons for me. It has a certain amount of mystery, fantasy, and charm that appealed to my taste buds. And I also meant that literally. The book is dotted by Cady’s cake recipes that are worthy of trying. This story is perfect for those who want a fast-paced, heartwarming tale of coincidences…Or were they?


Book details:
Title:  A Tangle of Knots
Author:  Lisa Graff
Publication:  February 5, 2013; Philomel
Genre: Children, Adventure, Fantasy, Fiction
Rating : ★★★★★



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