Chapters 6-9

Through an open door that leads into the tresses and threads of another world is where I have travelled. After stepping into this new realm called Wreathenwold, that same door closes without ever leaving a trace that it was even there. The only thing is, that door belonged to home and now the way home is shut. When the poppet that was mysteriously dropped of at Benjamiah’s family bookshop showed him the door to Wreathenwold, he crossed into someplace much different than what he knows or understands. This place comes with a lot of strangeness, bewilderment and magic, which Benjamiah is having an awfully difficult time wrapping his head around. He prefers logic and rational thinking over fantasy and make belief. Though, what he believed to only exist in stories about magical lands and beings is all real. Wreathenwold is colourful and vibrant, but at the same time dreary and dark. The people there are dressed in clothes from an earlier time period, when frocks and tunics were in style. And every single person has a poppet, either hanging at their side or moving about in animalistic forms. These poppets are more than dolls, they are characters with personalities that express themselves through the magic they are performing and their attachments to their caster. I am able to piece together more of their history and phenomena through reading those small passages that always appear at the beginning of a new chapter. These passages are always signed off with the line A Brief History of Wreathenwold. I enjoy linking all these passages together, for it is a story within the story that tells of dollcasters and dark sorcerers and a labyrinthine world.

As Benjamiah discovers more of Wreathenwold, he feels as though he is moving farther away from home. The realm seems vast and expansive, while still remaining snug and homey with its cottage-like neighbourhoods, markets and towns. There are nature, food and atmospheric elements that make me feel the essence of Wreathenwold. “bonewood trees”, “sweetdough bread” and “aether” are just some of the words and elements I gravitate to. Benjamiah is learning more about these things too as he meets new people. One of them is Hansel, the father of Edwid and Elizabella. He is the gentlest and most cheerful character, who loves his children and is badly hurting from the disappearance of Edwid. The two came together when Benjamiah was lost, alone and friendless. Hansel’s attatchment to Benjamiah is like that of a father who knows that this other boy is somebody’s son and he takes him in out of the pure goodness in his heart. He also lives in a bookshop himself, which makes Benjamiah feel a whole lot better and gives him a slice of home at Wyvern-on-the-Water.

There are traditions and customs in Wreathenwold that are fascinating and impressive. Decks of cards are used as expensive currency, poppets are soul bound to their casters and colour can be extracted and sold from almost anything and anybody, to name a few. The way the people make promises is one of my favourites. They use coins that are imprinted with crescent moons spiralled together. Hansel gives this coin to Benjamiah and says “I tell you I will keep you safe, and do everything in my power to get you home. You keep that coin until my promise is satisfied.” (Lees 88). A lot of the everyday magic in Wreathenwold that doesn’t come from poppets are moments like these, where coins hold the emotion and attachment of people and will physically break if the promise is broken.

I have been enjoying getting to know Benjamiah’s poppet, which he now calls it by the name Nuisance. Benjamiah says it is not his poppet or his friend, which is reasonable since he does not have poppets where he lives. Though, Nuisance doesn’t seem to think so and likes to crawl up on his shoulder as a dormouse or playfully follow him as a capuchin. I believe there is more to the story as in why and how Nuisance came all the way from Wreathenwold to Benjamiah. They must have a powerful connection that tethers them from two very different worlds. “There are no stray poppets” as Hansel says (Lees 114). The power of the aether is a mystical source and substance that is at the core of Wreathenwold. Every poppet has some aether inside them and the people who control it have some magic in them. Benjamiah may not believe in magic, but I think its part of him and he will soon learn how to use it through his poppet.