Ormeshadow
After his father loses his job, young Gideon moves to the family sheep farm of Ormeshadow. The hill is said to hold a sleeping dragon, and as family conflict fuses with local myth, the coming-of-age story turns into one of secrets and violence.
Work Information
The legend of a dragon sleeping in the land awakens family silence and resentment.
This novella overlays realistic family discord with the myth of a dragon lying under a hill. From a child’s viewpoint, it explores inheritance, resentment, and the stories written into land.
Review Summaries
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Readers value the density with which folklore and family drama are joined. Although concise, the novella leaves a strong impression of dark landscape and childhood isolation.
Book Information
- Publisher
- Tor.com
- Published
- 2019-10-15
- Pages
- 170 pages
- Language
- 英語
- Size
- 13.97 x 0.99 x 21.59 cm
- ISBN-13
- 9781250241443
- ISBN-10
- 1250241448
- Price
- 2451 JPY
- Category
- 洋書/Literature & Fiction/Drama/Tragedy
Winner of the 2019 Shirley Jackson Novella Award Winner of the 2020 BFS Award Acclaimed author Priya Sharma transports readers back in time with Ormeshadow , a coming-of-age story as dark and rich as good soil. Burning with resentment and intrigue, this fantastical family drama invites readers to dig up the secrets of the Belman family, and wonder whether myths and legends are real enough to answer for a history of sin. Uprooted from Bath by his father's failures, Gideon Belman finds himself stranded on Ormeshadow farm, an ancient place of chalk and ash and shadow. The land crests the Orme, a buried, sleeping dragon that dreams resentment, jealousy, estrangement, death. Or so the folklore says. Growing up in a house that hates him, Gideon finds his only comforts in the land. Gideon will live or die by the Orme, as all his family has.
Priya Sharma's fiction has appeared in venues such as Interzone , Black Static, Nightmare, The Dark and Tor.com. "Fabulous Beasts" (Tor.com) was a Shirley Jackson Award finalist and won a British Fantasy Award for Short Fiction. Priya is a Shirley Jackson Award and British Fantasy Award winner, and Locus Award finalist, for her short story collection "All the Fabulous Beasts" (Undertow Publications). Her novella "Ormeshadow" (Tor.com) won a Shirley Jackson Award and a British Fantasy Award. It was a 2022 Grand Prix de l'Imaginaire finalist. Her latest novella "Pomegranates" (PS Publishing) is a finalist for a Shirley Jackson Award, a British Fantasy Award, and a World Fantasy Award. Her work has been translated into Spanish, French, Italian, Czech, and Polish. More information can be found at priyasharmafiction.wordpress.com
Reviews
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Priya Sharma's collection of short stories All The Fabulous Beasts was one of my top 5 books of 2018 (if not THE best) so to say I was excited about Ormeshadow is an understatement. I was not disappointed. This is a beautifully crafted story, full of emotion. A family farm built on secrets and lies. A fable passed down through generations. A mythical treasure trove. This is a truly great book, like a combination of Thomas Hardy and Neil Gaiman.
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What I really loved about this novella was the way Priya Sharma walks that fine line of not quite ever telling the reader whether the fantasy elements are real or all in the main character's mind. Was the Orme really a dragon once upon a time? Are the events at the end of the book natural or super-natural? It's up to the reader to decide. There's wonderfully strong character work throughout, and a real sharp commentary on the roles available to women in the time period the novel is set in. Highly recommended.
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A slim book which I felt was too short sometimes and skipped sections where I would have liked more, but a lot was said with the words that were chosen and one did get a sense of complex characters with real lives. There were some excellent passages that conveyed the mood very well. I waas left with more questions than answers but perhaps that was the point.
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REVIEWED: Ormeshadow WRITTEN BY: Priya Sharma PUBLISHED: October, 2019 Elegantly-written novella of a young boy’s coming-of-age in the farmland of Ormeshadow, in which a boy deals with cruel family issues while dreaming in the shadow of a folk legend of a dragon sleeping underground. The book is a ”slow burn,” cautiously exploring the introspections and experiences of Gideon Belman. It’s also rather despairing, as he undergoes morose tragedy after morose tragedy… but it’s also very thoughtful, Gothic in its lonely village-like atmosphere. It’s a very literary tale, with no speculative elements aside from the recalling of myth and the dreams, until the ending of the story—and the ending is magnificent. Wraps up nicely, the long, circuitous journey to get there. Four out of Five stars
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I can easily understand why this book has received the great reviews it has. Sharma effortlessly paints a story that is so haunting, yet so vivid. No words are wasted, a lessor Author would of fluffed it out but Sharma hits every note on point. Families are complicated, even more so on Ormeshadow farm. Characters are real and the mood is cast like a thick fog from the first sentence. Treat yourself.