On Open Doors

I’ve had trouble reading for the last few months. That funemployment put a pause on my reading was an unpleasant surprise, and I’ll dig into that some other post. COVID, however, has really done a number on me. I’ve wanted escape more than usual, but letting myself fall into new worlds has felt impossible.

How wonderful, then, to find a book where a protagonist finds new worlds at every turn.

I picked up The Ten Thousand Doors of January because I heard it was heartwarming. I’m stuck inside, in one of the epicenters of the current Coronavirus pandemic. I’m sharing a 700-square-foot apartment with someone I love, but whom I can’t escape when I need some space. There’s no real way to go outside. I have no idea what our city or life will look like even next month.

In short: I needed a way to… well, get away.

Besides, the cover is really pretty.

Doors follows January, a young woman who has grown up as the ward of a very rich man. Her father is an explorer who galavants around the world, but January’s always left behind, trapped in an existence dictated by the expectations society has for young women.

Doors is about living within constraints, and growing in spite of them — or to spite them. It’s about finding new worlds, and making a life for yourself that the world never thought you deserved. It’s about the magic of discovery, and the power of love and perseverance.

The story is both fairy tale and a fable, and I think it might be the perfect book for quarantine. More than ever, we need to be reminded that doors are waiting to be found.

If you haven’t picked it up already, I strongly recommend it. Disclaimer: my next tattoo will read The door opens, so I might be strongly biased.