City News

The Gold-Son is a YA novel written by Carrie Anne Noble that follows the tale of sixteen year old Tommin and the trials and tribulations that he finds himself in. Tommin is a shoemaker, and a talented one at that. He lives in a small town with his grandmother whom he provides for. Life would have been simple if it weren’t for his curse. His curse that filled him with uncontrollable greed: the urge to steal. It wasn’t that he hadn’t tried to resist, every bone in his body longed to break free. But still, his mind was often taken over with the thoughts that controlled him. His grandmother called him Magpie.

When Tommin was 8, he started his apprenticeship with Master Rafferty, the town’s shoemaker. He sat down, and with no instruction or guidance, crafted a magnificent pair of shoes, with such precise cuts and delicate stitches that Master Rafferty couldn’t believe his eyes. How could someone so young be so gifted in this art, Mastery Rafferty marveled as he taught Tommmin how to craft shoes “properly.” He forbade Tommin to ever craft a pair of magnificent shoes because such finery could drive men to commit sins.

Life proceeds with as much normalcy that Tommin could obtain until one day, a strange and eerie man named Lorcan Reilly and his niece Eve visit the shop. The man is a stranger to the town of Loughgillan, Ireland, and he orders a pair of shoes to be made. Soon after, a devastating plague strikes the town and Master Rafferty falls ill so Tommin is left to finish crafting the shoes on his own. When Lorcan Reilly returns, he alludes to Tommin that he knows details about Tommin’s “condition”. Only Master Rafferty and his grandmother had previously known about his thieving, or so he previously thought. A series of events finds Tommin facing a lifetime jail sentence and Lorcan Reilly convinces Tommin that he will undo his predicament if only Tommin comes with him. Tommin isn’t sure who to trust, especially since the silent girl, Eve seems so mistreated and exhausted. But Tommin is desperate to go home so he makes a pact. Tommin soon finds himself caught up in a strange land of Faeries, leprechauns, and elixirs, where nothing is as it seems. He starts to question who he really is, and in this strange, magical, and frightening world, he is told that he is a gold-son, a leprechaun.

At the Neathgillan Academy, he is taught the ways of the leprechauns. Pieces of his strange story fall into place, as his origin is revealed little by little. Leprechauns recruit gold-sons to be trained at the Academy, and carry out the work. Gold-sons grow like normal babies, but soon find out their differences. The gift of shoe-making soon becomes a burden, and the compulsion to steal becomes a prison. Once gold-sons complete the training, they partake in a special elixir. If they drink the elixir three times, they will be bound as a leprechaun forever. Eve and Tommin must fight their way out of this place that has become a prison, learning about the ways to survive and escape. They also go on a journey to find inner strength and courage. The character of Eve is resilient with fiery inner strength and a will to leave and live her own life. The character of Tommin loses hope along the way, and comes close to settling into his surroundings, but his passionate love for Eve drives him to keep pushing on.

I enjoyed this novel by Carrie Anne Noble. The cover art is beautiful and the premise is unique and promising. The start of the book was intriguing and the characters seemed to have depth that could be explored. However, the second half of the novel changed pace and tone drastically with the plot twist that is revealed to the readers. Secondly, the characters are not executed nearly as well as they could have been. Tommin’s character is not one that spoke to me when I was reading this book. It was hard to get attached to the story, and no major emotional changes occured that made me root for them. The setting, the cover, the premise and the imagery was fantastic, but the execution, pacing, and characters could have been stronger. Overall, this book is entertaining to read and it provides a unique spin on the world of magic. The twisted fairy tale world that the author created provides a new take on leprechauns, and the evil that they are portrayed as. If you are looking for an imaginative, magical read, I would recommend this book. My final score is 6/10.

Checkout The Gold-Son from the Newport Beach Public Library.