Luminous (review)

Abstract

Reviewed by: Luminous Claire Gross Metcalf, Dawn . Luminous. Dutton, 2011. [384p]. ISBN 978-0-525-42247-1 $17.99 Reviewed from galleys R Gr. 8-12. After discovering a strange lump on the back of her neck, Consuela realizes that reaching through it allows her to literally step out of her skin to become a powerful, beautiful skeleton, "hard but soft, luminous as shell," able to enter the strange parallel world of the Flow. This, she learns, is where a handful of souls linger in a limbo between life and death, occasionally entering the real world to act as guardian angels using their varied powers. Consuela, for instance, is able to cloak herself in other skins—air, fire, animal—and use their abilities. But something—or someone—is killing off the erstwhile angels one by one, and Consuela seems to be the only one who can save the Flow and its dwindling inhabitants. Appropriately, [End Page 479] religious allusions abound, and Metcalf skillfully incorporates Jewish mysticism and Day of the Dead imagery, among others, in illuminating her world as she engages with philosophically and spiritually charged questions of angelic protectors, unseen worlds, and the afterlife. Consuela is fairly devout, giving her some authority in negotiating these currents, but the world of the Flow is strictly interfaith, exploring larger themes within religions and cultures without restricting the book to a single worldview. Though the plot rambles at times, the prose is simply stunning, and it's well worth the small plot fumbles. With her vivid fantastical landscape, evocative descriptions ("She cradled [her skin] in her arms like a precious thing, a gown of tan silk with black satin fringe, and hung it gently on the door hook to dry"), and facility with powerfully grotesque imagery, Metcalf is a stylist to watch. Copyright © 2011 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois