Every Heart A Doorway
By Seanan McGuire
The (a) story follows Nancy Whitman—a ghostly teenage girl with pale hair and the tendency to stand as still as a statue—as she arrives at Eleanor West’s Home for Wayward Children. In appearance, the home is a typical boarding school. But deep within its walls, it is far from ordinary. Because Eleanor West doesn’t take in just any child: the Home for Wayward Children is reserved for those who have disappeared—who have tumbled down rabbit holes, slipped away through wardrobes and closets, or else just wandered into the woods one day—and come back again, deeply changed by the magical lands and peoples they came across, and yearning to return there. They come to Eleanor West to heal, and to live in the hope that one day their magical doors will reappear, calling them back to where they know they’ve always belonged.
But soon after Nancy’s arrival, things within the home take a dark turn. And it will be up to Nancy and her misfit friends to solve a mystery…before one of them winds up dead.
The (A) story is about expectations versus reality. Many of the children at the home were whisked away to wondrous, colorful worlds full of nonsense. But a handful of them wandered into dark, eerie worlds full of cold, hard logic. And once bad things begin happening within the school, it is those who are longing for their seemingly nightmarish worlds that are the first to get the blame. And it follows shortly after that the students believing themselves to be the most “good” are the ones who treat the misfits the worst as their suspicion and paranoia sets in. This unfortunately believable reaction only goes to show that beauty and color do not equate to goodness, just as the dark and the cold do not necessarily measure up to wickedness.
This lesson in expectations versus reality is also demonstrated through our main characters. In particular, we experience it through the lives of the twins, Jacqueline and Jillian. Both had been transported to a grim world of logic when they were very young, but while Jack seems to completely embody this grimness, Jill presents herself as if she came from a nonsense world. But once more is revealed about the twins’ family life, we learn that it was Jill who was expected to be the smart, scientific one, and Jack who was always pressured to be the prim and proper young lady. Between these two characters, we are shown that the labels and expectations we tend to place on others are often not a reflection of who they truly are.
Of a similar note is the character Kade, a transgender boy who was rejected from his magical world once the inhabitants discovered he was not a little girl, as they originally thought. The real tragedy of Kade’s backstory is that the moment he reached a point where he felt truly seen for the first time in his life, those in power realized he was not “what they wanted [him] to be,” and tossed him aside without a second thought. Once more, we clearly see the unfairness of social structures putting boundaries on who people are and gatekeeping their potential happiness.
On a somewhat lighter note, the story also demonstrates that everyone has their own distinctive talents and contributions to the world—though this also comes with consequences within the context of Every Heart a Doorway. Perhaps the most morbid part of the mystery behind Eleanor West’s Home for Wayward Children is that each student falling victim to the goings on at the school has something taken from them. Something special; something that makes them unique. And while it can be argued that this uniqueness is what drew them into other worlds to begin with, becoming a part of these worlds also magnified that uniqueness. Each person’s world was a haven where they were free to sharpen their creativity, their spirituality, and even physical traits like their eyes or the way their hands move. In other words, because they found places where they were allowed to thrive, they were allowed to grow.
I had this book recommended to me during a time when I was hoping to find more books along the lines of The Light Between Worlds. And while the story did not take as much of a psychological look at “wayward children” as TLBW did (which was what I was ultimately hoping for), I did find myself quickly becoming involved in the mystery and the lives of the characters. In fact, I almost finished the entire book in one sitting. Admittedly it fell a bit short of my expectations (oh, the irony), but I am not disappointed to have discovered it and taken the time to read it, and am looking forward to picking up the sequels in the future. If I had gone in knowing it was more of a quirky mystery than a deep, literary dive into the lives of lost souls, I might have been more excited about it overall. But, again, I would still say it was worth the read. Perfect for anyone with a morbid sense of humor and a leaning toward whodunnits.
Once again, C.M., you have piqued my curiosity with your interesting book review. You have such an eloquent way of sharing highlights and insights into a good story. Thanks for the recommendation and I look forward to reading this book soon.
Of course, Care Bear! You know I’m always happy to point my fellow readers to a good book 😀