Briony talks often about “lay down new brain paths” as she works on liking herself. The attachment elements of the book become very explicit near the end. Eldric honors the Wolfgirl in Briony, and his love (not presented as romantic, except in a couple of passing scenes, until near the end of the book) for her is the mirror in which she begins to see her true self. Thankfully, Eldric and Briony develop an energetic, playful, supportive friendship, partly expressed through a Brotherhood Club the two of them form. The vehicle toward Briony’s healing and finally seeing her true, beautiful self is a boy, Eldric. The only cliched element to the story is that Briony’s stepmother is wicked- why must the fault always lie with women? She is the one who lies to Briony, telling Briony that she (Briony) is a witch, responsible for her sister’s mental deficits and her stepmother’s fatal illness, feeding into the doubts about self that a child without a deep, loving attachment to an initial caregiver is prone to accepting about herself.

Briony’s mother died giving birth to the girls, hence the lack of the initial attachment to a mother that all babies need. This book can be enjoyed literally, as a tale of the past, but I also saw it as a book about a child with attachment problems and a vivid guide toward the healing of those injuries. She exposes the interior lives of her characters with exquisite empathy. Tragically, in total contrast to her loving, powerful exterior, Briony secretly hates herself and believes herself to be a bad witch, incapable of love and damaging to those closest to her.īillingsley writes with sensuous perfection, her words creating scenes that are tangible and alive. Briony is an athletic, sensitive girl who has spent her life exploring the wilds of the swamp next to which she lives her nature-knowing and -loving persona is Wolfgirl.

The heroine, a 17 year old girl called Briony, is a compassionate, generous person who selflessly cares for her brain-injured twin sister and cared for her stepmother before that woman’s death. On its surface, Chime is a novel set in early 20th century England, a time when belief in witches and spirits dominated the lives of many people. Review of Chime by Franny Billingsley (2012)

Chime by franny billingsley