It wasn’t until I finished Rachel Hartman’s Tess of the Road that I discovered this is actually a companion novel to two others written by Hartman (Seraphina, and Shadow Scale). This makes sense since my first reaction to this book was feeling like I had been dropped in the middle of a story, not the beginning of one.
A synopsis:
In the medieval kingdom of Goredd, women are expected to be ladies, men are their protectors, and dragons can be whomever they choose. Tess is none of these things. Tess is. . . different. She speaks out of turn, has wild ideas, and can’t seem to keep out of trouble. Then Tess goes too far. What she’s done is so disgraceful, she can’t even allow herself to think of it. Unfortunately, the past cannot be ignored. So Tess’s family decide the only path for her is a nunnery.
But on the day she is to join the nuns, Tess chooses a different path for herself. She cuts her hair, pulls on her boots, and sets out on a journey. She’s not running away, she’s running towards something. What that something is, she doesn’t know. Tess just knows that the open road is a map to somewhere else–a life where she might belong.
Tess of the Road mentions so many unique world characteristics – dragon-people, lizard-people, languages, kingdoms, customs – all without explaining them, which makes reading the companion books first a helpful foundation. Without having done that, I found myself disoriented for the first little while.
Hartman eventually fills it all in nicely, but you need to be okay with working backward for several chapters while details of the world settle in. Once they do, this is a great book. Powerful, I would call it.
This is a story of self-discovery, of family, of shame and pain and healing. And a story about…well…stories. The story of our life, and do we let others write it, or do we own it ourselves? Lots of great characters and questions here; fully enjoyed it!
BOOK:30 