Mary Mendenhall speaks with Benji Cole from CBS Radio about her books “The Wrong Side of Eternity” and “Michael and the Ice Princess”
Author Mary Mendenhall talks about her books The Wrong Side of Eternity and Michael and the Ice Princess in a radio interview with Benji Cole from CBS Radio.
Michael and the Ice Princess follows the story of Michael, a medieval craftsman who stumbles upon a cold and aloof stranger, a woman in beggar dress. However, the Ice Princess is far different from the more allegorical figures of the Snow Queen, North Wind, or the White Witch: her struggle is the very human one of embracing her true identity.
The book introduces readers to Western mystical thought, in the literary setting of a fairy tale. She describes it as “a perfect bedtime story suitable for older youth and upwards”. Mendenhall engages her readers in such a way as to allow them ample space to imagine, and she provides no clear-cut key for symbols nor a simple explanation for the book’s mysterious ending. In 1996, the book’s first reviewer called it ‘a memorable tapestry of great power and beauty’.
Meanwhile, The Wrong Side of Eternity follows the story of Charity Ntambara and her uncle Geoffrey as they suffer indescribable horrors during the regime of Idi Amin, while half a world away, self-assured Irish-Mexican Stephen O’Connell escapes a small-town, checkered past to pursue education near San Francisco. There, fresh ideas-and people as diverse as brilliant anti-feminist Madeleine, the musical genius Bryce, and very earthy Julie Burns-pull his soul in opposing directions. ‘By chance’ he prevents the murder of a Ugandan refugee, catapulting him irrevocably into a world of need and danger.
