Chapters 1-5

Today was a sky of gloomy clouds, all purply and grey and a soft chill in my room that smelled like fallen leaves. For me, it was a perfect setting as I cozied up with the first few chapters of The Whisperwicks. Opening with the perspective of one of the main characters, Edwid, I got to learn about the voice coming from the crack in his wall. Everything started out so eerie and unusual, which was very fitting for the mood. I find comfort in the dark and the whimsical, especially when it involves animate cracks that uses surfaces on the ground or the walls to speak or move. Phrases like “a tangle of whispers, a snake pit of hushed voices” (Lees 2) emulates the very aura and essence of the voice in the crack. Whether this thing or being can be trusted is not known and Edwid could very well become entangled in its grasp and fall into its cavern of falsehoods and illusions.

Throughout Edwid’s conversations with the whisper, I caught glimpses of his twin sister Elizabella, where they are not really speaking to each other, for which Edwid blames himself. What I do know about the twins is that they were once close and shared a love for a fantasy and detective book series called Jamima Cleaves. The author of the books is Olfred Wicker. Interesting surname and word play with “whisper” and “wicks”. When the voice in the wall finally does speak, it tells Edwid that he is trapped in Wreathenwold. I believe this is the place where Edwid and his sister also live, for Edwid talks about how the Jamima Cleaves books “were some of the most popular in Wreathenwold” (Lees 6). The voice that has no name and referred to as “the whisper”, claims Olfred stole the stories of Jamima from other people and traps them away somewhere in Wreathenwold to silence them. Of course, the voice asks Edwid for his help in freeing it. The origins of this particular connection between the whisper and Edwid is not certain, for not even Edwid understands why the crack and voice has appeared in his room. Perhaps it is because Edwid reads Jamima Cleaves and that it is not just a fantasy book.

Then, there are the poppets. They are like dolls, but more than that. In the storybooks of Jamima Cleaves, her sidekick of sorts is a poppet. Edwid and Elizabella also have poppets they keep attached at their sides. When Elizabella catches Edwid sneaking out of the house, there is a moment where they both intensely hover their hands over their dolls, as if they plan to use them on each other. Now the poppets could be dolls based on the book series and the children have them to go with their books, but I have a feeling they represent something else. I would like to note that at the beginning of every chapter so far, there is an excerpt that appears before the main story from A Brief History of Wreathenwold and they are quite fascinating to read. When I read them together by going to each new chapter page they start on, another story is shaping, fragment by fragment. These little passages mention poppets being made of people’s souls and having the ability to transform and that the people of Wreathenwold cannot live without a poppet.

Wandering into the late night, Edwid goes to meet the whisper at Olfred’s cottage. In the scenes following, more of the whispers form and abilities are revealed and it is quite unsettling, but truly enjoyable to read. One of my favourite parts about this whispering phenomenon is its otherworldly and luminary features. “something silvery appeared within the crack… It was a tiny curl, like a new moon suspended in the night sky” (Lees 14-15). When the whisper blinks at one point, it makes me think of clouds hiding the moon away until its light shines back out.

A new character is introduced after the events of Edwid and the whisper in Wreathenwold. His name is Benjamiah and he lives in a bookshop. The town he calls his home is Wyvern-on-the-Water. Beautiful imagery captures this town, from its cottage houses to the fact that the town name is based on a dragon legend. I am thinking that the dragon’s name is Wyvern and given that legend says he sleeps under the hill by the river, Wyvern is sleeping “on the water”. At this part of the story, I feel that Benjamiah’s world is the “real world” or at least the one supernaturally linked to Wreathenwold. The world detailed in Wyvern feels snug and homey, as if the words on the pages were blankets and firelight. Wreathenwold feels distant and mystical, partly because there is still much to learn about the world, the characters Edwid and Elizabella who reside there and the mystery of the whisper in the crack. Pieces of Wreathenwold appear to be reaching out to Benjamiah, like branches extending from a tree, for he receives a doll at the bookshop that is just like the poppets Edwid and Elizabella carry on them. Something or someone could be trying to bring him there and the doll will help show him where to go.