A truly delightful read. Light and cheerful, but serious and peculiar at the same time. I’ve read this book many times in my life and it never fails to lift me.
The heroine, Mouche, is desperate for comfort and very nearly resorts to the time honoured solution of suicide. However, she is brought back from the brink by an intriguing range of fantastical characters- the seven puppets and their elusive master. Times are still tough, but Mouche now has a purpose and her honest determination to fulfil it as well as possible is a heartwarming and charming experience.
The writing and imagery is divine. The flickering characters of these seven dolls provide an outline for the plot; the ropes of a boxing ring for our two mismatched lovers to fight their unique fight. We are fooled, along with Mouche, into taking these boundaries as real and defined whenever they shimmer into existence. Of course, the puppeteer holds all the strings, although Gallico goes a very long way towards convincing us otherwise.
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