Tender Morsels by Margo Lanagan

First off, I just want to say sorry not having updated sooner. Life has been so hectic lately! Now that Spring Break is just a week away, I should be able to get back on track.

Liga lives modestly in her own personal heaven, given to her by natural magic in exchange for her earthly life. Her two daughters, gentle Branza and curious Urdda, grow up in this sof world, protected from the violence, predation, and village prejudice that once harmed their mother. But the real world cannot be denied forever--magicked men and wild bears break down the borders of Liga's refuge. Now, having known heaven, how will these three women survive in a world where beauty and brutality lie side by side?

Lanagan's darkly enchanting first novel is a tale of "journeys and transformations. From girl to witch to woman. From boy to beast to man. From hell to heaven to...reality." I usually read through books farely quickly, but Tender Morsels took me over a week. A slow, steady pace is needed to truly absorb this hardy novel. The story has many plotlines and covers many years, but Lanagan's thick and descriptive prose leaves the reader plodding forward, seeping up the knowledge of the good and bad that is a part of our world. The original diction that is Lanagan's specialty radiates a fairytale-esque quality. With it's mature, and sometimes crude subject matter, Tender Morsels is a book that demands maturity and time enough to fully comprehend it's complexity.