Yeah, That’s Pretty Old
The title character, Granny, is seventy-seven years old. The narrator puts this advanced age into startling context through the perspective of a young person looking at such an advanced stage of maturity:
“You can tell she’s old because her face looks like newspaper stuffed into wet shoes”
The Comical Twist Ending
Capping a metaphorical image with an unexpected humorous twist at the end often has the effect of deepening the serious part that comes before. What comes before is assuredly a darkly pessimistic worldview, but the twist both lightens the load and also makes the serious part stand out more starkly.
“Granny sighs as you do when precisely the whole world is against you, even though you pay taxes.”
Superheroes
Comic book superheroes play quite a large part in the story. Indeed, it would be impossible to separate the story of Elsa and her grandmother from the thematic patina of superheroes and comic books. The characters actually become superheroes to an extent:
“If Granny is a dysfunctional superhero, then Mum is very much a fully operational one. Their interaction is a bit like Cyclops and Wolverine.”
The Mantra
The opening lines of the novel are repeated a couple of times throughout the novel to the point that the metaphorical image becomes a thematic mantra. The key here, however, is knowing what a superhero actually is; that makes all the difference in the world.
”Every seven-year-old deserves a superhero. That’s just how it is.
Anyone who doesn’t agree needs their head examined.”
The Plot
Every once in a while a reader gets lucky and comes across an author brave enough to camouflage the entire plot of the story within a single metaphorical image. Such is the case with this author and the plot of this novel:
“This sounds like a different kind of treasure hunt altogether, though.”
