The author tackled a lot of different issues ranging from raising a sibling, being a refugee, withstanding abuse, what it's like to live as an illegal immigrant, falling in love, class differences, grappling with internal triggers (PTSD), and more.

Even the language, swear words and slang used complement the ambience of the story since it revolves around nature terms. I've read a lot of lesfic fantasy books in the last year and this is the first full-length novel involving fairies, wood creatures, goblins and the like so it definitely has a unique setting with different characters. So if you have not discovered Baker's work, please do. This is still my favorite of her books, and as I told her after I'd read it the first time, if I ever taught a creative writing course, I would use this book as one of the primary texts. This is a book in which everything works-characterization, dialogue, plot arc-and it will keep you turning pages until the end, at which point you'll start over because you'll just want to keep being part of L-J's world and the characters she has deftly created. That said, I read L-J because of her superb command of writing craft. It's a nuanced and multi-layered narrative, that reads so smoothly you scarcely notice you're actually reading. Can she and Flora develop a relationship that crosses not only class boundaries, but also the boundaries between fairies and everyone else? Should Rye reveal herself to Flora? And if so, what might happen?īaker explores the issue of 'otherness' through class and species, and even casts it within a rubric of anti-immigration sentiment, which makes this spec fic book about fairies an exquisite and subtle metaphor for very human issues. And Baker does such a wonderful job capturing Holly's teen character and nailing the uncomfortable family tension between the two sisters that I found myself wincing at some of the arguments, all too familiar in family dynamics.Įnter Flora, a lovely dryad, and Rye's world suddenly takes a turn for what could be better but could also be worse. Rye is a laborer, and she doesn't make much money, which creates stress for her but also for Holly, who has entered her teen years with a vengeance.

Should anyone suspect her true identity, both Rye and Holly risk deportation back to Fairyland and no doubt serious and probably brutal punishment. Rye took another identity, and she keeps her wings taped securely down beneath her shirt, because fairy-phobia is alive and well in the city where they reside. Rye Woods is a fairy who escaped Fairyland in order to give her younger sister, Holly, a better life. This is her first, released in 2006, and it's a book that I still think about and re-read parts of (and yes, I just ended a sentence with a preposition. L-J Baker is one of the best writers you may never have heard of.

Broken Wings by L.-J. Baker