Claire King's first novel The Night Rainbow
It is the story of five-year-old Pea - Pivoine to her French father, Peony to her English mother - who lives on a farm in a village in southern France. During the long, hot summer days, Pea and Margot, who is only four but resourceful and wise for her age, play in the meadows around the house. Maman is sad: she left her happiness behind at the hospital when her baby died, and then Papa had an accident and died, too, and now her grief and her foreignness isolate her from everyone, including little Pea who nevertheless tries her best to be as helpful and cheering as she can.
In the meadow one day, Pea meets Claude and his dog Merlin. Unsure at first, Pea takes to the odd man, thinking he might well do as her new Papa - which surely would make Maman happy again, but Claude is wary and neighbours are suspicious, and the ways of grown-ups are altogether puzzling to Pea. As the days pass and Maman retreats further into herself, Pea's self-sufficiency brings unwanted attention to her small family; something has to give.
The story is told by Pea, and her wonderfully funny voice and distinctive turn of phrase are captivating. Her imagination sees the magic in the ordinary, the everyday, and this child's eye view of the world has a simplicity and innocence to it which is engaging and moving. Pea notices the smells and tastes and feel of things, and she finds reassurance and tries to make sense of life and of how and why it is not always as we would like it to be through this familiar frame of reference. It's a very poignant book about loss and grief and coping, and above all, trying to make things better, but it has an optimism and a lightness to it - and as I said above, charm - which for me made it a complete delight.
