Juniper Gentian And Rosemary – Pamela Dean

Becky didn’t move. The Devil song went on, and ended; the next one began. “Hansel and Gretel are alive and well And they’re living in Berlin.” Gentian should have liked this song, but it always irritated her. She got up and paused the disk. “Think of something else I’d be good at,” said Becky as Gentian passed her on her way back.

“I’m giving up poetry.” Gentian looked at her. The last poet who had made her say that was Emily Dickinson, and the one before that was Tolkien. She did not altogether see how Laurie Anderson fit into this progression. “Songs are different,” she said. “But that’s the kind of thing I want to do,” said Becky. She reflected. “Well, one of them.” “What is?” “That song. It’s got images that add up to something and it’s funny and it’s serious and it’s snarky and it’s about important things.”

“Well, so does your stuff.” “Not like that.” “Well, you’re just starting out.” “I’ll never be able to do anything like that.” “Well, you’ll do something different that’s just as good, then.” Becky shook her head mournfully and climbed into bed, where she sat staring into space. Gentian sighed and started the CD player again. She might as well enjoy the rest of the record. Becky had not had an attack of the Poetics like this for some time. Gentian got her telescope book out of the suitcase and sat reading it and listening to the music.

She tried to think of an astronomer who would make her think, “I’ll never be able to do anything like that.” Certainly she was unlikely to do the equivalent of inventing differential calculus or a new kind of telescope, but she was perfectly confident about being able to find interesting things and have insights about them. “I think I’m obsessed,” said Becky suddenly. Gentian put the book down. “With what?” “Whom.” “Micky?” Becky nodded. She looked miserable. “I keep thinking how much more fun the Giant Ants’ party would be if he were there too.”

“Good grief.” “And it probably wouldn’t. I know he doesn’t appreciate Steph and he thinks Alma’s weird for not having any black friends.” “And what does he think of Erin?” “He thinks she’s cool.” “That’s something.” There was a pause. Becky chewed on the end of one braid, which she had not done since she was eight. I won’t ask, thought Gentian; then she thought, if I can’t ask, what’s the point of anything; then she thought, but it’s all right for some things to remain unsaid; and finally she thought, but this is what’s wrong.

“And what does he think of me?” She tried not to sound aggressive or demanding. “He knows you’re my best friend,” said Becky, “so he doesn’t express an opinion.” “But?” “He thinks we’re cliquish and snobbish and unwelcoming.” “We’re not a social club, for God’s sake.”

Juniper, Gentian, and Rosemary is a work of fiction. All the characters, locations, products, and events are products of the author’s imagination, or are used fictionally. Any resemblance to real people, places, things, or events are strictly coincidental. Sonnet XII of Epitaph for the Race of Man by Edna St. Vincent Millay. From Collected Poems, HarperCollins. Copyright © 1934, 1962 by Edna St. Vincent Millay and Norma Millay Ellis.

All rights reserved. Reprinted by permission of Holly Peppe, literary executor. Grateful acknowledgment is made for permission to quote from John M. Ford’s Growing Up Weightless, copyright © 1993. Published by Bantam Books. Reprinted by permission of the author. Grateful acknowledgment is made for permission to quote from the songs “Beautiful Red Dress,” “Ramon,” “The Day the Devil,” and “The Dream Before,” all from the album Strange Angels by Laurie Anderson, copyright © 1989 by Difficult Music. The translation of Sappho’s fragment 94, translated by Ewen Bowie, is from The Oxford History of the Classical World edited by John Boardman, Jasper Griffin, and Oswyn Murray, copyright © 1986, and is used by permission of Oxford University Press.

Copyright © 1998 by Pamela Dean Dyer-Bennet. All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the express written permission of the author. Cover design by David Dyer-Bennet. Published by Blaisdell Press www.dd-b.net/blaisdellpress. Smashwords ebook edition first published 1-Mar-2016. This is the Smashwords ebook edition V1.0, 21-Feb-2016.

OceanofPDF.com To David, To Elise, and to Raphael OceanofPDF.com Acknowledgments The author is much obliged to Laurie Campbell, David Dyer-Bennet, Lydia Nickerson, and Beth Friedman, for commentary; to Jan Murphy and Richard Knowles, for the loan of their telescope books; to Karen Uhrig, for advice on astronomical detail and psychology; to Hilary Hertzoff, for recommended reading; to Patricia Wrede, Elise Matthesen, and Caroline Stevermer, for support and patience; and to Emma Bull, Steven Brust, Raphael Carter, Kara Dalkey, and Will Shetterly, for detailed and honest opinions.

OceanofPDF.com Table of Contents Copyright Acknowledgments Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Chapter 16 Chapter 17 Chapter 18 Chapter 19 Chapter 20 Chapter 21 OceanofPDF.com JUNIPER, GENTIAN, & ROSEMARY OceanofPDF.com Chapter 1 There was a new house next door to Gentian’s. The lot it occupied had been vacant since before she was born.

This is a short excerpt from the opening of “” by Unknown, quoted for review and introduction purposes. All rights belong to the copyright holders.

Book Information

• Unique ID: 0a65a458fcece837
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• Title: –
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• Pages: 355
• Language: English (en)

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• Estimated Reading Time: 557.72 minutes
• Total Words: 111,544
• Total Characters: 627,687
• Average Words per Page: 314.21
• Average Characters per Page: 1768.13

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