Nothing catches my attention quite like seeing my own first name on a book cover, so naturally, I picked up Aimee Pokwatka’s “The Parliament” when I spotted it at my local library. I supposed I should feel lucky to have been able to leave my local library, unlike the characters in this novel, whose library is swarmed by thousands of tiny, murderous owls as the tale begins. This is the titular Parliament, a parliament of owls.
Pokwatka’s novel has been described as “The Birds” meets “The Princess Bride” – it’s a tale within a tale. First, the birds: we soon learn that Madigan (aka Mad), our protagonist, is only at her hometown library as a favor to an old friend. She has reluctantly agreed to come back to town to teach a group of tweens how to make bath bombs. She’ll teach the class and head back to her condo in the city, away from the traumatic past she left behind after high school. The owls, however, have other ideas; one owl breaks through the window of the classroom, sending glass flying and kids diving under tables.
It doesn’t take long for the library’s occupants to realize that the building is completely surrounded by the birds, and that they’ve lost all connection to the outside world – no cell phones, landline, or internet. One patron tries to exit…but is quickly consumed by the flock when she steps outside. With no way to leave and no way to call for help, Mad does her best to help her students stay calm. She locates her favorite childhood book, “The Silent Queen”, and reads aloud.
“The Silent Queen” is the tale of Princess Alala, the ruler of the mining kingdom of Soder. Every year on Enrichment Day, the 8-year-old girls of Soder journey up the mountain to trade some part of themselves to the monster, in exchange for a magical endowment, such as the ability to heal, or fly, or talk to plants. The monster takes what it wants – eyes, entire limbs, even the ability to speak. But this year, the monster is taking more and giving less, and Alala is forced to confront the beast to save the girls of Soder from it’s wrath.
Pokwatka alternates between the distraction of the Silent Queen’s journey, the escalating crisis in the rest of the library, and the resurrection of childhood memories Mad would rather leave buried. The author does an excellent job of joining these very distinct narratives into one cohesive tale of courage, loss, and healing. And her name is Aimee too, so I’ll add a star for that.
Pokwatka, Aimee. (2024). The Parliament. Tor Books.
