Review... Invisible in a Bright Light by Sally Gardner

I have loved Sally Gardner's books for years, lapping up her beautifully illustrated fairy tales a small child and getting lost in her historical stories as a teenager. 'I, Coriander', the tale of a girl growing up in Puritan England, still lingers in my mind as a remarkable and absorbing book with just the right mix of history and magical realism. It was a thrill to discover on the pre-lockdown library bookshelf that Sally had published a new story in 2019, 'Invisible in a Bright Light'.

Set in 1870 behind the scenes of the Royal Opera House in the unnamed city of C---, Celeste awakens to find herself out of kilter with the world around her. As with any dreamlike scenario, her surroundings and companions are familiar but (and a very big but) she is treated as a completely different person. When Celeste sleeps she falls into the gutter of time where she and a ghostly companion must play the mysterious game of 'The Reckoning' and save the people they love.

It is certainly an intriguing premise. It is also the foundation to my reservations about the book: Celeste's confusion with the events that transpire morph into my confusion with the plot. After a gripping entrance into Celeste's world, the plotline slipped through my fingers. I understand any reticence about revealing a story's secrets  too early for fear of an anti climax; but the slippery hints and embedded clues that make up the initially thrilling adventure need a pinch of context in order for the twists, turns and eventual conclusion to pack a greater punch.

However Sally's readers can enjoy a luxurious, lyrical narrative which would prove inspiring to any budding writer, as well as some truly vivid characters. Such is the strength of the characterisation that I found myself growing fond of them and genuinely caring about their fate. What eventually transpires is the fulfilment of Celeste's search for belonging;in turn this is mapped onto the desires of other characters which makes for a satisfying ending, despite the muddle of the storyline. 

Invisible in a Bright Light is ultimately an interesting story with a fascinating and detailed premise which I suspect is well worth a concentrated re-read (when I'm feeling strong enough...) Perhaps Lockdown wasn't the best moment to sink into Celeste's strange world as it definitely does not suit a wandering mind.

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Sally has written many other brilliant books. If you get the chance, I cannot recommend enough the fabulous I, Coriander, The Red Necklace and The Silver Blade - exciting and insightful historical fiction for young readers shifting between junior fiction and beyond.