Juniper, Gentian, and Rosemary

First edition (publ. Tor Books)
Cover art by Peter Gudynas

Juniper, Gentian and Rosemary is a 1998 fantasy novel by Pamela Dean. It is published by Tor Books, and based on Dean's 1989 short story of the same name, which appeared in the anthology Things That Go Bump in the Night edited by Jane Yolen and Martin H. Greenberg.[1] It is a retelling of the ballad Riddles Wisely Expounded.[2]

Synopsis

Juniper (age 16), Gentian (age 14), and Rosemary Meriweather (age 11) are three sisters living happily in Minneapolis in 1994, when their lives are disrupted – first, by the appearance of a strange house (which Gentian cannot remember being built) in the vacant lot next door, and second, by the appearance of Dominic Hardy, a teenage boy who speaks in quotations and riddles, and who recruits Gentian's help to build a time machine.

Reception

Juniper was nominated for the 1999 Locus Award for Best Fantasy Novel,[3] and included in Locus's "Recommended" list.[4] Terri Windling has described it as one of "(Windling's) very favorite fantasy novels",[5] and Mary Anne Mohanraj has stated that she "love[s]" Dean's integration of magical elements into a mundane setting.[6]

On the other hand, SF Site's Margo McDonald felt that the book did not fulfil its potential, stating that the intellectual precocity of the characters and their friends was implausible, that despite the compelling portrayals of characters and their interrelationships, which kept her reading, overall the plot did not hold her interest, and that on the whole, she found the book a disappointment.[7]

References

  1. ↑ Pamela Dean's official bibliography, by Pamela Dean; published 2006; retrieved October 10, 2013
  2. ↑ Pamela Dean Dyer-Bennet's Homepage - Historical Archive, by Pamela Dean Dyer-Bennet; published December 21 2008; retrieved October 10, 2013
  3. ↑ The Locus Index to SF Awards: 1999 Locus Awards; at Locus; published 2011; retrieved October 10, 2013
  4. ↑ New & Recommended Books, at Locus; originally published July 1998; retrieved October 10, 2013
  5. ↑ On Your Desk 4, at Terri Windling's Studio; published February 15, 2011; retrieved October 10, 2013
  6. ↑ Interview: Pamela Dean at Strange Horizons; by Mary Anne Mohanraj; published January 1, 2001; retrieved October 10, 2013
  7. ↑ Featured Review: Juniper, Gentian and Rosemary, at the SF Site, by Margo MacDonald; published June 1998; retrieved October 10, 2013

External links