Asian American Literature Fans

A Review of Priya Sharma’s Ormeshadow (Tor.Com)
By Stephen Hong Sohn

So this book was yet another I was reading in the midst of many others. It comes out of Tor’s e-publishing initiative and imprint called, appropriately, Tor.com. Despite the name, they do have traditional trade paperback copies.

Let’s let the official site give us some background on this title: “Acclaimed author Priya Sharma transports readers back in time with Ormeshadow, a coming-of-age story as dark and rich as good soil. Burning with resentment and intrigue, this fantastical family drama invites readers to dig up the secrets of the Belman family, and wonder whether myths and legends are real enough to answer for a history of sin. Uprooted from Bath by his father's failures, Gideon Belman finds himself stranded on Ormeshadow farm, an ancient place of chalk and ash and shadow. The land crests the Orme, a buried, sleeping dragon that dreams resentment, jealousy, estrangement, death. Or so the folklore says. Growing up in a house that hates him, Gideon finds his only comforts in the land. Gideon will live or die by the Orme, as all his family has.”

Much of the novella (or a short novel, if you want to call it that) remains rooted in the realist realm for the most part and could be defined as a kind of domestic drama. When Gideon arrives with his father John and mother Clare to the Orme farm, they stir up old resentments related to family responsibilities. John’s brother Thomas had been handling the farm and now finds himself feeling like he must take in his brother’s family. Complicating matters is the fact that it’s clear that Thomas, who is already married (to Maud) with three children, possesses a sexual chemistry with Clare, so we’re watching these dynamics simmer beneath their interactions. Here, I will provide my requisite spoiler warning, so look away now if you don’t want to discover too much about the text.

One of the pivotal plot points is when Gideon’s father is found dead; the circumstances are unclear. It could have been a suicide or he could have been pushed off a cliff face, but the point is that John’s death catalyzes other problematic developments. Gideon is forced to give up his schooling, must live under the hawkish gaze of Thomas. The conclusion to the story had me a little bit confused. Sharma leaves enough ambivalence that the folktales related to the dragon mythology and a buried treasure remain still a little bit hazy. Certainly, Gideon’s position changes drastically but where Sharma falters, at least in my opinion, is in the connection between the dragon mythology and Gideon himself. The nature of this kind of bond seemed crucial to Gideon’s survival, yet his fate seems to run in another direction entirely. My reading is presupposing a more literal understanding of the plot points, but alas, I have no one yet to discuss the work with. Suffice it to say that Sharma’s prose is perfectly pointed and stylistically precise to the gothic dimensions of the novella.

For more, and to buy the book, go here.

Review Author: Stephen Hong Sohn
Review Editor: Gnei Soraya Zarook

If you have any questions or want us to consider your book for review, please don’t hesitate to contact us via email!
Prof. Stephen Hong Sohn at ssohnucr@gmail.com
Gnei Soraya Zarook, PhD Student in English, at gzaro001@ucr.edu