Three women, older than time itself, live in a cave, weaving our destiny. The ancient Greeks would have known them as Moirai. English speakers would call them the Fates. Their legend transcends terrestrial and cultural boundaries, but to meet them is rare.
Chloe, the maiden, spins the wool into the bright threads that begin our lives. Motherly Serena measures the yarn. Elderly Xinot waits, with scissors in hand, to bring to an end our mortal existence with one sharp snip.
Once, they lived among mortals, but the pain and distraction of being among us drove them to a rocky island out at sea. There they lived, alone save for a visit from a stray hero or two, for centuries. Then, a troubled young woman arrives outside their cave. Her name is Aglaia, and her circumstances are tragic, though the Fates can see her thread shines bright. Chloe senses immediately that this girl, with her beauty and rage, will shake to the core the entire nature of the world she and her sisters inhabit.
The Fates develop a dangerous affinity for Aglaia, who sought them out in a blaze of anger and pain, asking why these terrible things had happened and how she was supposed to find the will to carry on afterward. In spite of Chloe's misgivings, the sisters find themselves risking the very fabric of reality for the life of one bright and passionate girl.
Told from the perspective of Chloe, whose narrative is characterized by the power and detachment of an immortal being mixed with the passionate determination of youth, author Rebecca Hahn's "The Shadow Behind the Stars" is a lyrically mesmerizing fantasy. The story of Aglaia and the Fates feels as though it could easily have sprung from a number of ancient mythologies. Such is the ingenuity of utilizing an archetypal goddess trio in a novel that also meditates on some very universal and timeless questions about destiny, loss, love and perseverance.
One of Hahn's many talents as an author is her deft skill at the storytelling technique of showing, not telling. Violence is hinted at, but leaves much to the imagination, while the details of the setting and atmosphere feel sharp and vivid. Readers will taste the salt in the air and squint at the brilliance of Aglaia's gleaming life-thread. While the descriptions are written with almost surgical precision, the narrative never feels bogged down. This starkly beautiful novel possesses a poetic sophistication that will captivate both teen and adult audiences.
Courtney Waters is the teen services coordinator at Missouri River Regional Library.