Sam
Gayton’s novel Lilliput, inspired by Jonathan Swift's Gulliver’s Travels, tells the story of Lily: a
three inch girl fighting to escape from a birdcage in the human world of 18th
century London and return to her own faraway home of Lilliput. All her misfortunes begin with Gulliver, who
is now an embittered old man tired of being ridiculed for his outlandish
stories. Desperate to prove he is not a crazy liar, Gulliver kidnaps Lily with
the intent to show her to the world once he has finished his grand manuscript
about his journeys. Despite her tiny height, Lily constantly tries to escape as
she knows her time is running out as Lilliputians count their lives by moons,
not years. She is soon aided in her escape by the orphan Finn, an apprentice of
the cruel clockmaker Mr. Plinker. Lily frees Finn from a perfidious wrist watch
that counts wasted seconds instead of time and constricts ever tighter if he is
not continuously working. But even free they must find a way to outwit Gulliver
and Mr. Plinker together, or fall captive again forever. I loved the ending of
the story because it was true to the price and bravery of growing up;
sometimes, even best friends must say goodbye and trust their hearts are shared
across the miles.
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