Eight Keys

This is one of those fictional American households where, whatever concerns of their own they may have, the adults are always there for the children. As far as Elise is concerned, this is just as well. For, already orphaned as a toddler and adopted by her aunt and uncle, she’s just moved to a new school; she’s being bullied; and her friendships are being tested. It’s become so bad that she’s not doing her homework and avoiding school if she can. The arrival of her aunt and a new baby makes things worse, since the baby gets far too much attention. Still, adult support for Elise extends not only to friends outside the family, but to her dead father who, thoughtfully, while dying of cancer, has left her eight locked rooms to open, one by one, on the first floor of her uncle’s capacious barn. Each room contains memories or messages that help her find her feet. This reworking of Bluebeard’s castle requires suspension of disbelief at dizzying altitudes, yet Lafleur’s touch is sure enough to carry the reader across. Like me, you may not believe the half of it, but the half you do believe, what goes on in Elise’s head, is the important part.