Keturah and Lord Death (review)

Keturah, age sixteen, always assumed that she would eventually marry for love. After she follows a majestic hart deep into the woods and becomes hopelessly lost, however, she meets Lord Death, who apparently has more say over her future than she does. Keturah is clever and spirited, though, and she convinces the brooding Lord Death to give her one day to find her true love. Rather than focus solely on her search (even Keturah doubts her ability to find a fated romance so quickly), Keturah determines to secure the futures of her grandmother, her two best friends, and her bedraggled town before she dies, and she coaxes Lord Death into giving her small increments of extended life. Keturah does not seek to cheat her destiny, though, only to forestall it, and she would have willingly accepted her fate even if she hadn't discovered her soulmate in Lord Death. The passionate relationship of Keturah and Lord Death, blossoming out of an early fascination and strong friendship, is both realistic and otherworldly. Leavitt integrates the sweeping romance with a timeless story of a headstrong girl who is certain that, given enough time, she can create a perfect world. And indeed, happy endings abound in the novel, though Keturah's notion of a faultless and effortless true love are fortunately banished in favor of a recognition that sacrifice and compromise accompany relationships as often as ideal moments do. Lord Death, mysterious and gorgeous, and Keturah, brilliant and beautiful, will be irresistible to romance fans as well as those who like a bit of passion woven into their fantasy.