Hilary McKay
Fiction
For ages 9 to 12
Simon and Schuster, 2001, 978-0-689-84934-3
When Saffron finally
learns how to read, she discovers two important things. Unlike the names of her
siblings (Cadmium, Indigo, and Rose) her name is not on the color chart that is
pinned to the kitchen wall. For some reason, her name is not a paint color and
this is a very disturbing discovery to make. Why would her mother, Eve Casson,
name all the other children after paint colors and not her?
The second thing
Saffy (this Saffron’s nick name) learns, she finds out by accident. Thanks to
the slip of someone’s tongue, Saffy finds out that she was not born into the
Casson family. She was adopted. In fact, she is the daughter of Eve Casson’s
sister, and is therefore Caddy, Indigo, and Rose’s cousin instead of being
their sister.
Finding out that
she was adopted turns Saffy’s world upside down. She has nothing to connect her
to her dead mother except Grandpa. After his daughter died in a car crash in
Italy, Grandpa was the one who drove all the way to Siena to bring three-year-old
Saffy back to England. Even though Grandpa is now elderly and does speak or connect
with the world, Saffy loves him and is close to him. Her name is the only thing
Grandpa has said since he lost the ability to speak.
Ten year’s after that
dreadful drive from Italy, Grandpa dies. Eve and her husband share his will
with their children, thinking that they are all old enough to deal with this.
Since most of Grandpa’s earthly possessions were sold or fell apart long ago, Indigo
will not be able to have Grandpa’s car, and Caddy will not get his house in
Wales. Included with his will is a note saying that he leaves Saffron “Her
angel in the garden.”
At first no one
knows what the note is talking about, but then Saffy remembers that there was a
stone angel in the garden in Siena, a stone angel she loved when she was
little. Her Grandpa knew that Saffy loved the statue and so he left it to her.
The problem is that Grandpa did not bring the angel back to England. It is
still in Italy, and therefore Saffy will never be able to get it back. She will
never be able to reconnect with her past.
As you read this
book it is hard not to fall in love with the decidedly peculiar Casson family.
Their lives are full of odd adventures and colorful characters, and at times
they all seem to be quite out of touch with reality. Thankfully, this really
does not seem to matter very much because the Cassons are a team. They are
bound together by the love and the fierce loyalty that they feel for one
another.
This is the first
Casson family story.
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