“The Beatryce Prophecy,” by Kate DiCamillo
“Answelica was a goat with teeth that were the mirror of her soul — large, sharp, and uncompromising.” These first lines of “The Beatryce Prophecy,” by Kate DiCamillo, introduce us to one of the most engaging and mysterious animals to have appeared in children’s fiction for many years.
Answelica plagues the monks of the Order of the Chronicles of Sorrowing, in a quasi-medieval world, and delights in butting them through the air for long distances, and biting them when they land. The monks fear her as a demon, but when a foundling child appears in the goat’s barn, Answelica is strangely transformed; she becomes the guardian and champion of the child, who can remember nothing of her past except that her name is Beatryce.
The monks’ task is to record everything that has happened, and might yet happen. Beatryce is taken in and befriended by Brother Edik, an open-hearted misfit in the community, who also has the gift of prophecy. When he discovers that Beatryce can both read and write, he is amazed and alarmed, because in the whole kingdom, no woman or girl is allowed to do either.
To keep this secret, and keep Beatryce safe, Edik decides to shave her head and disguise her as a monk, but the head of the order, Father Caddis, thinks her presence poses a threat. And he may be right, because we have already learned that the king is searching for a lost girl, and intends to do her harm.
Meanwhile we meet Jack Dory, a resourceful orphaned boy who is fast on his feet, and often asked to carry messages. When he’s sent to the Order to find a monk who can write, Father Caddis seizes the opportunity to get rid of Beatryce, and sends her with him, with Answelica the goat as Beatryce’s unlikely guardian angel.
Beatryce has been engaged to write the dying confessions of a soldier who is staying at the village inn, and while she is with him, the king’s guards come looking for the missing girl. Jack and Beatryce, urged on by the butting head of Answelica, flee into the dark and threatening forest.
So begins a journey that turns into a quest to find Beatryce’s true identity. This becomes gradually clearer to Beatryce and to the reader, and we begin to connect her to the missing girl, long before Beatryce does herself. She learns to trust Jack, and both of them put their faith in Answelica’s instincts, communicated to them with looks and head-butts.
Meanwhile, the king’s soldiers have come to the Order of the Chronicles of Sorrowing in search of the missing girl, and Edik suddenly remembers that, as a young man, he prophesied that, ‘There will one day come a girl child who will unseat a king, and bring about a great change.’ Edik realizes that the girl must be Beatryce, and even though he is not a brave man, he decides to leave the order and search for her.
In the forest Beatryce and Jack meet various people who were connected to both of their separate tragic pasts, and with each new person, Answelica’s behavior towards them helps the children judge their character. The goat may not be able to speak, but she can certainly communicate, and most of all she demonstrates her fierce love for Beatryce.
The various strands of the story are seamlessly woven together to arrive at a satisfying and surprising conclusion, and the whole book is beautifully written, with a lyrical combination of humor and insight. To say that “The Beatryce Prophecy” covers issues of love, storytelling, and gender equality is true, but also sells it short, because it has an almost epic quality, while at the same time being intimate and personal (and not too long!). The illustrations, too, are exceptional, and match the writing with an unusual harmony.
This is Kate DiCamillo’s finest book since her first, the wonderful “Because of Winn- Dixie.” It’s accessible to children from third grade upwards, and was a popular read-aloud for the Village School’s fifth-sixth grade class. It bears the hallmark of all great children’s books, in that it can appeal to children and adults of all ages.
You can see this book, and a great many others in all the classrooms, at The Village School’s upcoming Open House, from 10 a.m. to noon on Saturday Feb. 12. The school is at 253 S. Royalston Road in Royalston. Please wear masks. Visit villageschoolma.org for details