Wonderland by Barbara O’Connor is a story that celebrates friendship — friendship of different kinds, with those we meet in unexpected circumstances and places. The story doesn’t have one main character, but a number of individuals whose lives intervene and thus the tale is told through a number of characters and their point of views.
As these different personalities come together, they all learn something and grow in different ways as the story progresses. In a way, Wonderland teaches about acceptance and the belief that there is both good and bad in us and our experiences can change us.
Two girls, Mavis and Rose, from very different backgrounds and with contrasting personalities, become friends when Mavis’ mother comes to work as a live-in housekeeper for Rose’s mother. Mavis has always had an unsettled life as her mother moved around looking for the right job and the right place to settle. Mavis longs for stability, and by the time she comes to live in an affluent locality in Rose’s house, she is ready to settle and decides that the super shy and timid Rose is going to be her best friend. Both the girls had been lonely in their own way.
Yes, you guessed it, Mavis is headstrong, with a lot of spark and confidence. She acts first and thinks later and we see her forcing Rose to do some things aren’t allowed to Rose by her protective mother and also because of her cautious nature. This equation in their friendships is easy to relate to because most of us have faced peer-pressure to go against our nature or beyond our boundaries. Though in the case of Rose, she eventually blooms into a more confident person, in real life this may not always be the case.
Besides these two, there is the lonely Mr Duffy, the gatekeeper of the upscale community where the girls live. He gets broken-hearted after the death of his dog and the girls set about on a mission to get him a new dog. But they soon learn that it is not as easy as it seems, especially when the dog they choose is one that escaped from a local dog racetrack, Wonderland. The dog, Henry, is yet another character in the book.
Things work out well in the end for everyone and what I liked about the story was that each character, whether major or minor, is distinct and has depth.
Wonderland is a charming tale with enough that young readers can relate to but those looking for fast-paced action or over-the-top humour, will be disappointed.
Published in Dawn, Young World, May 4th, 2019
