I’ve had a copy of Paul Pen’s Light of the Fireflies kicking around for a while, and in truth I can only think I bought it on a recommendation. I read the blurb and found it intriguing, but always felt other books I had waiting in the background held more appeal. With hindsight, that was a significant error!
The story is told by a young boy who lives in a basement with his father, mother, grandmother, sister and brother. There’s a few things we learn about relatively early on. The doors to the basement are locked. Everyone down there, aside from the boy, has been disfigured in a fire which occurred before they moved to the basement, the sister to such an extent she is forced to wear a mask. Despite their isolation, they have a supply of food and other necessities.
However, much of their circumstance is shrouded in mystery, the gaps filled with the typical stories and myths the parents create to keep their offspring from the truth.
From the very start, Light of the Fireflies has an underlying tension, a mix of uneasiness and dread. The beauty of the storytelling is it provokes a suspicion in the reader, and I found myself doubting the intentions of all the various characters at certain points of the book. Seen through the eyes of the narrator, they all seemingly had something to hide, and a desire to control and even manipulate.
As the story unfolds, I found myself questioning certain parts of the family dynamic, and even suspecting something sinister in their everyday actions. Then, as a little clarity descends, the true abhorrent darkness is slowly revealed.
Light of the Fireflies is a magnificent melange of fear, suspicion, deceit, and intrigue. The family’s interrelationships and motives scratch the itch for psychological stress, while the innocence of the narrator amplifies the dread which creeps through the narrative. The hard hit, when it comes, will disturb many readers, and makes the book one which is hard to forget!