cover image THE EARTH KITCHEN

THE EARTH KITCHEN

Sharon Bryant, . . HarperCollins, $15.95 (160pp) ISBN 978-0-06-029605-6

In a slow-moving if sensually written first novel set in 1963, Bryant recounts the story of a 12-year-old who is institutionalized for what would probably now be called post-traumatic stress disorder. Gwen is first met waking up in the girls' sleeping room to the smell of the steam embedded in the rough cloth of her crisp white sheets and to the gentle pressure of the handmade quilt she sewed with her beloved aunt. The tale unfolds through a mix of unrelenting, frighteningly real descriptions of the wall of silence in the Unity State Hospital, and the lush fantasy worlds Gwen conjures up to escape painful memories of her parents' fatal car crash, which she alone survived. Gwen recovers authentic memories through the exploration of these fantasies, replete with symbols (e.g., keys, paper flower gardens, an underground kitchen) that become the tools of her healing. It turns out that the trauma of the car accident has become bound up with Cold War preoccupations with atomic bomb attacks. Although an interesting story, the narrative voice suggests an adult's attempt to recapture a lost childhood; it lacks the immediacy and urgency of, for example, Patricia McCormick's Cut or Carolyn Coman's Tell Me Everything, which also describe girls grappling with mental illness. Combined with the pace, the slightly distanced perspective may dampen the general appeal for young readers. Ages 10-up. (Mar.)