Share-A-Book Saturday (12)

This is something I found over on Just Another Book Addict =), and I thought I'd do my own. There are so many great books out there that get overlooked (especially if they've been out for a while)!

Every Saturday, you share (recommend) a book, preferably one that you haven't reviewed yet. It's just a way to get other books out into the blogging world. This is NOT a review.

Today I'm going to recommend The Raging Quiet by Sherryl Jordan.

Marnie comes to the remote fishing hamlet of Torcurra as the reluctant bride of Isake Isherwood, a lord of her parents' farm. But two days later, while thatching the roof, Isake falls to his death. Marnie's only kindness comes from Father Brannan, the village priest, and Raver, the strange mad boy whose incoherent cries belie his gentle heart. Taking him in one windy night, Marnie makes a startling discovery: Raver is not mad but deaf.

Determined to communicate with the boy whom Marnie now calls Raven, she invents a system of hand-words. Raven learns quickly and has soon all but shed his madness. Yet while Marnie and Raven forge a deep bond, the villagers, already suspicious of Marnie's role in Isake's death, see his transformation as the result of witchcraft. Even as Marnie's and Raven's bond turns to love, and as they uncover the mysterious value of their cottage, Marnie is forced into a witchcraft trial where the test of the iron bar will determine her fate.

Set in the times when magic was a force to be reckoned with, The Raging Quiet is the epic saga of a remarkable woman whose only crime is being different. (Product description from Amazon.com.)

While I'm not sure if I would call this book an "epic saga", it is a really good tale about two people who might not fit in with the world around them, but who find love, understanding, and acceptance with each other.

I was never quite sure if this was supposed to be fantasy or historical fiction. I couldn't quite place the time period, and the village of Torcurra is most certainly fictional. But the villagers are "good" Christian folk who don't think twice about trying to whip the devils out of people they deem to be crazy, witch hunts seem commonplace, and one of the main characters is a priest... so there are some definite similarities with the real world of centuries ago. Ultimately, though, it doesn't really matter. The story is about the characters, and there are some good ones. Marnie is an independent young woman with a kind heart. Raven is deaf and struggling to fit in in a world where everybody assumes he's mad. I loved the interaction between the two, especially as Marnie was trying to teach Raven how to communicate.

I'd recommend this book to readers who enjoy young adult fiction, fantasy, historical fiction, and/or romance. If you're really curious, you can read an excerpt from the first part of the book here.