THE LOST CONSPIRACY
by Frances Hardinge
HarperCollins Children’s Books
ISBN: 9780060880415
Ages 10-up
576 pages
On the remote island of Gullstruck, a rare phenomenon occurs to just a few of its residents. These individuals are the Lost, and they have the ability to separate their senses from their bodies. The Lost can send sight, smell, touch, etc. to the next room or to the other side of the island to gather information, exchange messages and locate lost goats or missing children, all while their bodies wait in a sleep-like state for their senses to return. Everyone on the island respects the Lost, holding them as the highest of Gullstruck’s citizens. Thirteen-year-old Arilou is a Lost. Then again, maybe she isn’t.
Arilou was born in a Lace community, a race of people struggling to survive on the coast of Gullstruck. The Lace have long been degraded to a lower class of people, but when Arilou started showing signs of being a Lost, their status began to rise just a bit. Arilou kept the village from starving many times with the gifts and food given them. Even Hathin, Arilou’s younger sister, can thank Arilou for her own existence; Hathin was born for the sole purpose of caring for Arilou, which is a big job as Arilou rarely returns to her body. Hathin has to watch her constantly, feed her, bathe her, dress her, even interpret her slurred words. She doesn’t have much of a life of her own and feels almost invisible. Another big part of Hathin’s responsibilities is keeping a huge secret with the rest of the village --- a secret so important that everyone’s lives depend on it. Maybe, just maybe, Arilou isn’t a Lost after all; perhaps she is just physically and mentally handicapped.
One day, a Lost inspector shows up to test Arilou of her abilities. The village bands together to cheat Arilou’s way through the tests. But right in the middle of the evaluation, the inspector and every Lost on the island (except for Arilou) are killed. As Arilou and Hathin become the number one suspects in this mysterious mass murder, Hathin drags Arilou into the forests to escape the angry mobs hunting for them. Running for their lives, they join up with a few renegades who agree to help them find out what really happened that fateful night. Along the way, Hathin begins to discover how special she really is, apart from her legendary sister.
Frances Hardinge has a unique writing style that overflows with grace and elegance, meaning and insight. Her imagination soars with the colorfully detailed descriptions of this distinctive island, the ingenious plot twists and the intensely memorable characters. She digs into the themes of racism and self-esteem with a careful and sensitive hand. Some readers may be challenged a bit with the longer length of the book, the larger words, and the author’s look into the different cultures of her unique island. But this is a worthwhile challenge. THE LOST CONSPIRACY is a special story to be treasured, shared, and read again and again.
--- Reviewed by Chris Shanley-Dillman, author of FINDING MY LIGHT
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