I like fairy tales, stories with happy endings. As the mother of two little ones, I also like stories about children. Which may be why I liked Haley Tanner’s Vaclav & Lena as much as I did. I was actually surprised at just how much I liked it. Vaclav & Lena is a modern-day fairy tale, with all the right amounts of good and bad, kindness and evil. And there’s even a little magic, too.
Tanner’s writing is simple, witty and charming, not unlike the main character, Vaclav. Her characters are real and believable, even as they are simultaneously too good to be true: Vaclav, completely earnest and selfless; Lena, a mystery to everyone, even herself; and Rasia, the adoring and dutiful guardian.
My love and concern for the welfare of the characters, coupled with a heartbreaking story line, made it hard to put this one down each night. I fell in love with little, shy, neglected Lena and vulnerable, gallant, naïve Vaclav when they were just little kids, and my love only grew stronger when they matured into delicate, hormonal, irrational teenagers. And, as it was for Vaclav, Lena, and Rasia, it will be difficult for me too to forget this inseparable pair.
In keeping with Vaclav’s love of lists, I feel that it is only fitting to include some lists of my own:
List of What Vaclav Would Say this Book is About
Magic
Illusion
Friendship
The American Dream
The Importance of Lists
Loss
Secrets
Lena
Love
List of What Lena Would Say this Book is About
Mystery
Fear
Longing
Curiosity
Friendship
Secrets
Moms
Fairy Tales
Certainty
Uncertainty
Love
List of What Rasia Would Say this Book is About
Sacrifice
Fear
Guilt
Raising a Russian boy in America
Raising an American teenage boy in Brooklyn
Heartbreak
Pride
Knowledge
Love
Vaclav & Lena is new in trade paperback from Random House.
Biblioklept 