REVIEW  |  By Patricia Anne McGoldrick  » Looking for some Autumn Reads? You might want to read a work of fiction entitled Plain Kate.

The golden light-filled book jacket of Plain Kate by Erin Bow caught my eye. At first glance, the warm coloured backdrop to a sketch of a long-haired young girl tip-toeing across a rooftop certainly set off a stream of questions in my mind.

Just who was Plain Kate? Where did she live? What was the name of her cat? Was she part of a circus act? You get the picture.

To find out more, I had to read the book by American-born Erin Bow, an award-winning poet, and talented author who now lives in Canada with her family.

Right from the start, the reader is drawn into the rural village setting where Kate lives in eastern Europe.

Kate’s life has not been easy from the start. A difficult birth resulted in the death of Kate’s mother, leaving Kate to be raised by her father, a wood carver.

From her youngest days, Kate learned how to carve, developing an almost mystical talent for that trade, despite its male-dominated guild structure.

When her father died, unexpectedly, due to a plague that killed many of the villagers, Kate’s uncanny ability to carve so well became suspect. Here, Bow has captured well the character of beliefs and superstition in the people of this rural Russian setting. Witches and magic spells are integral parts of the plot.

Bow’s book becomes a chronicle of survival for a young orphan girl who is blessed with talent in a non-traditional field of employment. She must tread carefully to escape the suspicions of people in her community.

In her often lonely days, a cat, Taggle, accompanies Kate; when he begins to talk, Kate has a companion, helping to ease her isolation and fears. Taggle adds a dimension of humour, at times.

Plain Kate is a rather complex story, filled with elements of mystery. To enrich the story, Bow introduces new vocabulary from the Russian setting, along with a glimpse of life in an earlier time. She, successfully, creates this landscape for modern readers.

The orphaned Kate is reminiscent of other literary characters, such as Anne Shirley and Harry Potter, who have to face challenges in their lives without the guidance of parent figures. This aspect of Plain Kate’s life is appealing to many readers who have grown up with stories about Anne of Green Gables and/or Harry Potter.

Check out Erin Bow’s book to find out how Plain Kate meets her challenges!

• Plain Kate, by Erin Bow, published by Arthur A. Levine Books, Imprint of Scholastic Inc. AUA. Author website: www.erinbow.com

• Patricia Anne McGoldrick writes poetry, essays, and reviews. Living in Kitchener, Ontario, Patricia has been published in the Christian Science Monitor, The Irish American Post plus several titles at chapterandverse.ca. She is a member of The Ontario Poetry Society and the League of Canadian Poets.  WEB: Patricia-Anne-McGoldrick.com  BLOG: PM_Poet Writer  Twitter: @PM27