Chime

Franny Billingsley

Mar 2011 · Sold by Penguin

About this ebook

"Part mystery, part fantasy, this beautifully-written page turner explores guilt, mercy, and love."—New York Times bestselling author Holly Black

Briony has a secret. It is a secret that killed her stepmother, ruined her sister's mind, and will end her life, if anyone were to know. She has powers. Then Eldric comes along with his golden lion eyes and a great mane of tawny hair. He is as natural as the sun, and he treats her as if she is extraordinary. And everything starts to change . . .


A National Book Award Finalist 

★ “Exquisite to the final word.”—Booklist, starred review

★ “Both lushly sensual and shivery.”—School Library Journal, starred review

Ratings and reviews

If you want to read something that is different and refreshing, then this is the book for you. The story takes place in the well thought out Swampsea, a land where the magical creatures of the Swamp exist. Briony and her twin sister Rose are the daughters of a pastor. Their stepmother has recently died. Rose has some mental challenges that Briony blames herself for. Why? Briony's stepmother consistenty told Briony that she was a witch and that she caused the accident that led to Rose's mental problems. Briony feels responsible for many things that happen in her little town. When an engineer comes to town to drain the swamp the Boggy Mun sends the swamp cough in response. Many children take ill and die. Briony feels she must do something to stop this because she can see and talk with the magical creatures that live in the swamp, even if it means confessing to being a witch. This would mean she would be hanged. She tries to convince the engineer's son Eldric to believe her. Eldric is in love with her but she has convinced herself that she can't cry and she can't love because she is a witch. She is willing to risk all to save her family and friends. This was a wonderfully strange book. Unlike many people who figure things out the first time, I thought, aha! Only to find out the author had taken a different turn with things. I loved the dark feel to the book. It gave it a strange kind of charm. The characters were unique and I loved them. This is a book that I can see myself re-reading and recommending to my friends.

Briony and her twin sister, Rose have to keep a dark secret that not even their father knows, or else they could be hanged even though Briony is the one who has the darkest secrets. Briony feels at fault for the spreading of the swamp cough caused by a monster that she called out, and the sickness of her sister, and her stepmother’s death as well. In Briony's journey to undo her mistakes that make her hate herself, and an attempt to save the others, she encounters with a boy named Eldric. He teaches Briony new things and makes her see things in ways she wouldn’t have done before such as having feelings. He makes her forget to hate herself for things that were caused by accidents. Fanny Billingsley is the author and did a wonderful job in creating the scene of the book in the late 19th century or early 20th century. Bringing in terms like "Had he ever really touched a girl, touched her in the Pearl and Artie way." The creativity in the book makes you want to keep reading it with characters such as Rose, the Boggy Mun, and the Brownie etc. What could have been better is if the author didn’t make some scenes so confusing at times, for example there was a scene where a man gets sucked in by witches but I didn’t really get it. I recommend this book, because its suspenseful and mysterious, it would be a wonderful book to read in your free time.

But the writing was a little hard to read when they were talking but otherwise a great book.

About the author

Franny Billingsley is the award-winning author of four books, including The Folk Keeper--winner of the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award for fiction--and Chime, which received six starred reviews and was a National Book Award finalist. A graduate of Tufts University and the Boston University School of Law, Franny left the practice of law to write full-time and hasn't yet looked back.