Author and Reviewer Nancy Carty Lepri took the time to read and review, "Lily and the City of Light," and I would like to share her review with you below.
The people of Htrae, besieged by poverty and hunger as well as greed and dissention, live below a mountainous city where the residents who live there are filled with joy. No one from Htrae knows how to get to the city, and when an old man offers to show the way, no one listens. Instead, they try to find it on their own, but do not succeed.
Ten-year-old Lily lives in Htrae and constantly gazes toward the glittering city, longing to go there. She searches for the old man to show her the way. A charismatic character, he informs her, she can only get there by giving away her heart.
Lily leaves him, dejected. She meets a beggar, realizing she can give her heart to this old woman. After doing so, the woman tries to sell it, but Lily demands it back and heads for home. Then passing the richest man in Htrae, she offers her heart to him, but he is too busy for her, so he gives it to his butler to lock away. After a week, Lily returns to reclaim her heart and gives it to a baby, who only wants to play with it.
Discouraged, Lily forgets about the wondrous city and giving her heart away. Then one day she notices a beautiful boy in the town square. Understanding that love means giving your heart away without seeking anything in return, she offers it to him, but he rejects her, causing her unbearable pain.
Soon she decides she does not want her heart anymore and decides to throw it away. Hearing a soft voice calling her, she pursues it and ends up before a king sitting on a magnificent throne. The king takes her torn and broken heart and offers her his heart in return, which is full of color and love.
Afraid to accept it, the king tells her the heart belongs to him and holds enormous love, thus demonstrating that the hardest part about giving your heart away is learning to feel pain and sorrow.
Finally Lily is in the beautiful city knowing the meaning of knowing love and trust, while the old man remains in Htrae, awaiting requests about how to find entrance to the city of light.
This delightful story, enhanced by whimsical illustrations, shows the sacrifice of giving one’s heart away while learning how to love unconditionally. A fantasy tale, this not only teaches a lesson, but offers a source of wonder and joy."
To learn more about Nancy and her writing career, visit: http://nancycl.webs.com/
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