The Girl in a Swing [Paperback]

I can't read it as a tale of the supernatural either. My idea of the supernatural is Poe, Lovecraft, M R James, Clark Ashton Smith and that lot. Alan has something like psychic insights, triggered in the presence of strong femininity. This to me is a fascinating issue, the sort of thing that should warn any rationalist not to be too know-all. There seem to be more things, even on earth, than are dreamed of in a purely rational philosophy. Arthur C Clarke, commenting in retrospect on Childhood's End, says that while his interest in the paranormal had declined not all the unexplained phenomena -- poltergeists, premonitions etc -- can be brushed aside or rationalised away. Would you call this a story of the supernatural? I wouldn't.

It's the story of a relationship, perhaps a love story but perhaps that is going too far. What it definitely is is a Euripidean tragedy. Medea escaped unscathed for Karin's crime but Karin is struck down for it by the deity she has offended in a very Euripidean way. I cannot now remember where the two lines of Greek tragedy quoted at the start come from, but surely it must be the Medea. What they mean is

'I cannot explain what happened to her that she did this'.
'But for those who understand it all goes without blame'.

No it does not, neither to my ideas nor in the story itself.

As far as mythology and comparisons are concerned, this is by no means 'Medea Revisited' as suggested by another reviewer. Medea is about jealousy and heineous revenge. Though one of the 'sins' commited by Medea is also Karin's, I suggest a closer connection to Kali (which is very briefly and cleverly worked into a conversation within the book), if one must make mythological comparisons. In any case, yes...this is a tale worthy of Euripidean dimensions but it has nothing to do with jealousy, intrigue and revenge.

Karin is a gossamer, enchanting woman of deep, consumming emotions with, as the story unfolds, a dark secret. Her 'other-worldly' nature makes one suspect she is indeed an enchanted creature-turned-human whose very existence is for the spellbound love she and Alan share. Though make no mistake; this is no soggy love story.

Is she 'other-worldly' or a tragic human creature not-meant-for-this-world? Read this intriguing tale with a dark secret. It will haunt you long after the covers of the book are closed.