Weeping for a Living

Nieve's parents are professional weepers. They go to funerals, wakes, firings, and break-ups to cry for people who, apparently, cannot be bothered. It is, not surprisingly, a lucrative career. At the opening of the novel Terry Griggs' Nieve, named after its protagonist, the weepers are preparing for a major event, the funeral of the wife of one of the most influential men in town.

But there seems to be a lot more misery in store. The town's beloved Dr. Mory has suddenly fallen gravely ill. The town's spiders are multiplying. When Nieve encounters a Weed Inspector whose job is to ensure the proper level of noxiousness and viciousness in the area's weeds (they actually bite), she begins to realize that something is really wrong. Eventually people start disappearing, shops close and reopen under new management, Nieve's mother begins acting all evil, the sun is dimmed, and almost no one else Nieve meets seems to be aware that the world has gone completely haywire.

Nieve finally finds a few people who, like her, remember what the world is supposed to be like and who bond together to form a kind of resistence. Griggs creates a truly eerie and unsettling atmosphere for Nieve's adventure and heroism, showing off a perfect eye for the creepy detail--missing toes, contorted bodies, the use of living things for jewelry, furniture and clothing. He also has a special ear for the sarcastic, bickering tones of teenage dialog.

Nieve dives right into its narrative and then rips along, perhaps a bit too fast. The novel's primary flaw is that the reader never gets a real feel for what Nieve's world is like before all the trouble starts. Because the narrative doesn't fully foreshadow the conclusion, it seems to come out of nowhere. In the end, the book is not as satisfying as it could be, although it's dark whimsy and plucky heroine are enough to recommend it.
At its conclusion, Nieve leaves enough unsettled to prompt at least one sequel. According to the jacket copy, Nieve is the first in a "projected trilogy."

This review is based on a reading of an advanced copy provided by the publisher.

Released: 2010
Publisher: Biblioasis
Audience: Middle Grade
Length: 250 pages

Other reviews:
Charlotte's Library