Echo (novel)
| Author | Francesca Lia Block |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Fantasy novel |
| Publisher | HarperCollins |
Publication date | 1 August 2000 |
| Media type | Print (Paperback) |
| Pages | 224 pp |
| ISBN | 0-06-440744-6 |
| OCLC | 45829801 |
| Preceded by | Violet and Claire |
| Followed by | Wasteland (Block novel) |
Echo fantasy novel by Francesca Lia Block, published in 2000 by Harper Collins. It follows the life of Echo, who, in her teens, meets a boy with angel wings, for whom she still finds herself waiting for years later. Some chapters are, however, almost completely dedicated to lives of her friends, family and boyfriends.
Plot summary
Echo feels overshadowed by her beautiful, angel-like mother, Eva, and lacks the attention of her artist father, Caliban. The summer her father is diagnosed with cancer, she encounters Storm, a boy with angel wings, and falls in love with him, but he tells her it is not the right time. She leaves for school in autumn, where she starts dating a poet Thorn, with whom she lives until she develops an eating disorder and drops out of school.
Eva refuses to accept Caliban's death, and believes a white horse that mysteriously appears in her garden is a reincarnation of her husband.
Echo meets Nina and her boyfriend Mark, both of them obsessed with sports and perfect bodies, and aspires to be like them. Even after she is warned by Nina's brother Skye, whom she rather likes, she continues their friendship, which ends with them completing a blood sacrifice on her.
Smoke is a talented musician, who leaves the love of his life, Wendy, and their ill baby daughter, Eden, in faith he poisons everything he touches. As a little girl, Eden predicts Smoke will fall in love with Echo, and he does, years later. He loves Eden more, however, which seems to end their relationship.
Valentine is flirtatious, glamorous and beautiful, and Echo wishes to be just like her. She leaves her behind however, when heading for a new life in New York, where she finally starts painting again. Valentine, after losing her job, turns to prostitution. In New York, Echo finally meets Storm again. She realises that before he could love her, she had to love herself.
Characters
Echo: The protagonist of the story. She is loving and emotional. She is raised with a jealousy of her mother, Eva, whom she describes as an 'Angel'. She longs for the love of her father, and when he dies she continues to believe he never loved her, though Eva says otherwise. Because of her failed relationship with Caliban, she spends most of the novel pining over the men in her life, wanting to be loved. She dances wildly, and when she does she claims to be able to see the lives of the boys she is dancing for.
Eva: Echo's mother. She is described as an angel throughout, and has long red hair. When Caliban gets cancer, she tries to cure him with spells and crystals and many other homeopathic remedies. When he dies, a white horse begins to come to her house and she begins to believe that it's Caliban reincarnate.
Caliban: Echo's father. He was a painter, and much of the plot line surrounds his paintings. He adores Eva, and Echo. It is also implied in the story that Eva and Caliban both had Jewish parents, and that Caliban's parents died in the Holocaust.
Storm: The boy that Echo met by the sea that saved her life. He has angel wings glued to his back, as it is described he experienced trauma and wishes to 'fly away'. She falls in love with him, but he silently tells her it's not their time. When they meet again at the end of the novel, he 'gives her back her tears'. It is presumed that they have a child and remain happy for a long time.