Aura (novel)

Lore & Background

The novel follows Felipe Montero, a young historian who answers a newspaper advertisement seeking a French-speaking, youthful, history-loving live-in assistant to organize the memoirs of a deceased general. He arrives at a dark house at Donceles 815, where he meets the old widow Consuelo and her niece Aura. Montero becomes mesmerized by Aura's beauty, especially her bright green eyes, and begins working on the general's journals, discovering Consuelo's infertility, her fantasy of having a child, and her obsession with youth.

Reader's Guide

Aura is significant as a key work of magic realism, using dreamlike themes and the motif of double identity to explore aging, desire, and the blurring of past and present. Its second-person narrative is a distinctive stylistic choice that immerses the reader directly into the protagonist's experience. The novel's cultural impact is evident in its 1966 film adaptation, La strega in amore, and in controversies: in 2001, Mexican Secretary of Labor Carlos Abascal spoke out against it after it was read in his daughter's convent school, leading to the teacher's firing and a surge in sales. In 2009, it was banned from the curricula of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico's Department of Education due to alleged lewd language. These events underscore the novel's enduring power to provoke discussion about literature and morality.

Did You Know?

• The novel's narrative is entirely written in second person.
• The first English translation was published in 1965 by Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
• It was adapted to film in 1966 as La strega in amore.

Three-Part Rescue Epic

The novel follows two seventh-graders, Prue and Curtis, who are pulled into a hidden magical forest called the Impassable Wilderness after a murder of crows kidnaps Prue's baby brother Mac. The narrative unfolds across three distinct parts. In Part One, the pair are separated while fleeing coyote soldiers; Curtis is captured by Alexandra, the Dowager Governess who commands the coyotes, while Prue stumbles into a Kafkaesque bureaucracy in South Wood and meets Crown Prince Owl Rex. Alexandra's backstory reveals black magic used to resurrect her dead son Alexei. In Part Two, Prue is shot down while flying to North Wood, rescued by the King of the Bandits, and ultimately tricked back home, where she learns her parents made a dark deal with Alexandra. In Part Three, mystics, bandits, and a citizen militia unite as the Wildwood Irregulars for the Battle for the Plinth, where Prue discovers she can command plants, Mac is snatched from Alexandra's grasp, and the villain is consumed by the very ivy she meant to weaponize.

World-Building and Moral Critique

Drawing on classic fantasy novels and folk-tale traditions, Wildwood constructs a layered world in which every character falls into one of three categories: a native of The Wood, an Outsider, or a rare half-breed like the protagonists who can cross between realms. A visible aura or shine allows characters to identify which group a person belongs to. The fantasy setting serves as a vehicle for sharp social commentary, particularly on adult authority. South Wood is rendered as a paranoid, police-state regime that sustains itself through fear of foreign threats, while Alexandra's arc transforms personal grief into a vengeful plot to sacrifice a child. The natural beauty and local color of Portland, Oregon, are woven throughout, anchoring the fantastical in a recognizable real-world landscape. The story ultimately champions the moral agency of young people confronting corrupt institutions, culminating in the demand that the South Wood government resign.

Illustration and Book Design

Carson Ellis, Meloy's wife, worked in close collaboration with him throughout the writing phase to produce eighty-five illustrations for the 541-page novel. Because the artwork developed alongside the text rather than being added afterward, the visual and narrative elements feel deeply integrated. The old-fashioned book design, paired with Ellis's illustrations, earned particular praise from reviewers and gave the volume a tactile, storybook quality that sets it apart from more contemporary children's chapter books. The design choices reinforce the sense of a timeless, almost archaic world within the Impassable Wilderness while remaining accessible to middle-grade readers. The visual presentation became a defining aspect of the book's identity, contributing meaningfully to its positive critical reception and enhancing its appeal as a read-aloud experience for families.

Critical Reception and Awards

Wildwood received predominantly favorable reviews, with critics describing it as an engrossing story well matched to its target age group. That said, reviewers also flagged that the plot occasionally dragged, that familiar fantasy motifs were sometimes overused, and that the stereotypical Portland culture was a touch overplayed. Despite these caveats, the book achieved notable commercial and critical recognition: it spent two weeks on the New York Times Best Seller list for Children's Chapter Books and tied for the 2012 E. B. White Read Aloud Award. The Read Aloud tie feels especially fitting given the novel's deep roots in oral storytelling and folk-tale traditions. The book's success also helped establish Colin Meloy, better known as the frontman of The Decemberists, as a writer of children's literature, broadening his creative reach beyond music into the world of fantasy fiction for young readers.