''Juniper, Gentian, and Rosemary'' is a 1998

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving Magic (supernatural), magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy ...

novel by

Pamela Dean Pamela Collins Dean Dyer-Bennet (born 1953), better known as Pamela Dean, is an American fantasy author whose best-known book is ''Tam Lin'', based on the Child Ballad of the same name, in which the Scottish fairy story is set on a midwestern c ...

. It is published by

Tor Books Tor Books is the primary imprint of Tor Publishing Group (previously Tom Doherty Associates), a publishing company based in New York City. It primarily publishes science fiction and fantasy titles, and is the largest publisher of Chinese scien ...

, and based on Dean's 1989 short story of the same name, which appeared in the

anthology In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs or excerpts by different authors. In genre fiction, the term ''anthology'' typically categ ...

''Things That Go Bump in the Night'' edited by

Jane Yolen Jane Hyatt Yolen (born February 11, 1939) is an American writer of fantasy, science fiction, and children's books. She is the author or editor of more than 350 books, of which the best known is '' The Devil's Arithmetic'', a Holocaust novella. H ...

and

Martin H. Greenberg Martin Harry Greenberg (March 1, 1941 – June 25, 2011) was an American academic and anthologist in many genres, including mysteries and horror, but especially in speculative fiction. In all, he compiled 1,298 anthologies and commissioned ov ...

. It is a retelling of the

ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads derive from the medieval French ''chanson balladée'' or ''ballade'', which were originally "dance songs". Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and ...

Riddles Wisely Expounded "Riddles Wisely Expounded" is a traditional English song, dating at least to 1450. It is Child Ballad 1 and Roud 161, and exists in several variants. The first known tune was attached to it in 1719. The title "Riddles Wisely Expounded" was giv ...

''.

Synopsis

Juniper (age 16), Gentian (age 14), and Rosemary Meriweather (age 11) are three sisters living happily in Minneapolis in 1994, when their lives are disrupted – first, by the appearance of a strange house (which Gentian cannot remember being built) in the vacant lot next door, and second, by the appearance of Dominic Hardy, a teenage boy who speaks in quotations and riddles, and who recruits Gentian's help to build a

time machine Time travel is the concept of movement between certain points in time, analogous to movement between different points in space by an object or a person, typically with the use of a hypothetical device known as a time machine. Time travel is a w ...

Reception

''Juniper'' was nominated for the 1999

Locus Award for Best Fantasy Novel The Locus Award for Best Fantasy Novel is a literary award given annually by ''Locus Magazine'' as part of their Locus Awards. Winners References External links The Locus Award Index: FantasyThe Locus Award: 2011 winnersExcerpts and summaries o ...

, and included in

Locus Locus (plural loci) is Latin for "place". It may refer to: Entertainment * Locus (comics), a Marvel Comics mutant villainess, a member of the Mutant Liberation Front * ''Locus'' (magazine), science fiction and fantasy magazine ** ''Locus Award' ...

's "Recommended" list.

Terri Windling Terri Windling (born December 3, 1958 in Fort Dix, New Jersey) is an American editor, artist, essayist, and the author of books for both children and adults. She has won nine World Fantasy Awards, the Mythopoeic Fantasy Award, and the Bram Stoke ...

has described it as one of "(Windling's) very favorite fantasy novels", and Mary Anne Mohanraj has stated that she "love Dean's integration of magical elements into a mundane setting. On the other hand,

SF Site SF may refer to: Locations * San Francisco, California, United States * Sidi Fredj, Algeria * South Florida, an urban region in the United States * Suomi Finland, former vehicular country code for Finland In arts and entertainment Genre ...

's Margo McDonald felt that the book did not fulfil its potential, stating that the intellectual precocity of the characters and their friends was implausible, that — despite having been kept reading by the compelling portrayals of characters and their interrelationships — overall the plot did not hold her interest, and that on the whole, she found the book a disappointment.Featured Review: Juniper, Gentian and Rosemary
at the

, by Margo MacDonald; published June 1998; retrieved October 10, 2013

References

{{reflist

External links

Annotations for "Juniper, Gentian and Rosemary"
by Felix Strates (via

archive.org The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...

) American fantasy novels 1998 American novels Novels set in Minneapolis Tor Books books