Saffy's Angel

July 21, 2003

At the start of this story, a girl learns that she is actually the Italian-born daughter of her supposed mother's twin sister, who died in a car crash when she was three. When her grandfather also dies and leaves her the statue of an angel, her search for it leads to more than one discovery. In a boxed review, PW
called this "a memorable portrait of a vastly human family." Ages 8-12.

Starred review from March 18, 2002
McKay's (The Exiles; Dog Friday) sparkling novel once again introduces an eccentric, entirely engaging British family whose members readers will immediately embrace. The Casson parents, both artists—delightfully distracted Eve paints in her backyard shed and comically distant Bill spends weekdays painting in his London studio—named their children from a paint color chart: Caddy (for Cadmium), Indigo and Rose. All but Saffron, "so fierce and alone," who learns at the start of the story that she is actually the Italian-born daughter of Eve's twin sister, who died in a car crash when Saffy was three. Eve explains that Grandfather had been visiting Saffy and Saffy's mother in Siena at the time of the accident, and delivered the girl to the Cassons, who adopted her. Now elderly and catatonic after two heart attacks, beloved Grandfather sits in silence when he visits the family, as the children hover around him, endearingly sharing news of their lives. When Grandfather dies, "They felt as if they had lost a battle they might have won if only they had tried a bit harder."The man leaves something to each of the children: Caddy receives his crumbling cottage on a cliff in Wales; Indigo his aged Bentley (which Bill dismisses as an "absolute wreck"); Rose his remaining cash (£144). Attached to the will by a rusty pin is a note scrawled in a shaky hand, "For Saffron. Her angel in the garden. The stone angel." As McKay shapes an intriguing plot around Saffy's angel, the Cassons' capricious capers and understated, droll dialogue will keep readers chuckling. Especially entertaining subplots include: reckless Caddy's driving lessons with her patient instructor (who fabricates a girlfriend to keep his flirtatious student in check), aspiring polar explorer Indigo's sessions sitting on his bedroom windowsill, hoping to cure his vertigo, and Rose's efforts to create works of art using such unlikely materials as "the entire contents of the refrigerator" and the pound coins that constitute her inheritance. An unlikely friendship with Sarah ("the wheelchair girl"), a neighbor, brings out another side of Saffy as the two attempt to find her angel in Siena, and Saffy makes all kinds of discoveries, including her love for the Cassons. The author blends a generous heaping of humor and joy with a dose of pain in a memorable portrait of a vastly human family.The only disappointment for readers may be that McKay's affecting conclusion arrives too soon. They'll close this book hoping for the Casson clan's swift return. Ages 8-12.

Starred review from August 5, 2002
British actress Sawalha (Absolutely Fabulous; Chicken Run) exhibits an impressive range as she portrays various members of the offbeat, artistic Casson family of McKay's bubbly and warm novel. As soon as she can read her mother Eve's paint-color chart, Saffron, whose name is not among the listed colors, realizes that she is different from her siblings, Cadmium (Caddy), Indigo and Rose. The discovery that she was adopted as a toddler, following the death of her mother (Eve's twin sister), has Saffy feeling upset and alone. But several years later, when her grandfather mysteriously leaves Saffy an angel garden statue from her childhood home in his will, she begins to search for it and, finally, finds a sense of belonging. The journey leads Saffron to a new friend, "the wheelchair girl," Sarah, in her neighborhood, and to Italy, where Saffron was born. With a bright, inviting manner, Sawalha doesn't miss a beat shifting among Caddy's daffy flirtatiousness, Indigo's scientific tone and Sarah's relentlessly cheerful tone, among other characterizations. Humor shines throughout; particularly amusing is Sawalha's take on Mr. Werbeck, Sarah's no-nonsense, boorish-but-caring dad. Simultaneous release with the Simon & Schuster/ McElderry hardcover. Ages 8-up.