I don’t think I’ve mentioned on the blog what a pleasure this book is. First, Michael Thomas Ford never disappoints me, whether he’s writing fiction or non-fiction, and in whatever genre. I was one of the people who contributed to the Indiegogo campaign in 2012 to help him finance his writing of this book. The original plan was that only contributors would receive a copy upon its publication.
Fortunately for the reading public, editor Steve Berman was persuasive in getting MTF’s approval for Lethe Press to publish Lily, meaning more of artist Staven Andersen’s illustrations could be included and also ensuring the novel’s wider circulation.
It is a fairy tale and while that might not be the first thing I’d pull off a shelf in the bookstore, as I said, MTF’s writing never disappoints, so I was glad to go on this journey with him (as a writer) and Lily (as a character). The book Lily is beautiful and sad and creepy and funny. The character Lily, who has an ability that makes her “different,” has a foot in two worlds–both of them magic, but only one that will embrace and not exploit who she is. There’s a lot of sadness here for me as a reader at the cruelties creatures both human and supernatural are capable of. But there are also moments of unexpected kindness that help Lily move toward a better destiny than the one she thinks she deserves.
Michael Thomas Ford’s touch is as magical as Lily’s, and so is this book.