Well, this sort of Thai setting, Buddhist, dystopian fantasy middle grade novel is not exactly the kind of book I would have expected to enjoy, but I did. The author blurb says that Ms. Soontornvat grew up in Texas and lives in Austin, so maybe some of the Texan in her got into this novel, too? The blurb also calls the story Soontornvat’s twist on Victor Hugo’s Les Miserables, my favorite book ever, so maybe that’s why I liked it. Anyway, I thought it was quite fascinating with a positive message about light conquering darkness and change being difficult and costly but possible.

The book begins in a women’s prison in the city of Chattana. Pong and Somkit are orphan boys, born in the prison to convict mothers who died when the boys were infants. Children born in the prison are unjustly condemned to remain there until they reach the age of thirteen, but Pong escapes early and ends up in a monastery where he becomes the acolyte and disciple of a monk named Father Cham (Bishop Myriel).

Meanwhile, back in the city, the Governor who came to the city to bring light and order and goodness to Chattana has become a dictator who provides his orbs of colored light to those who serve him and keep the law perfectly while he imprisons all those who fail to please him or follow his ever-increasing number of rules. And those who fall in-between? They are sinking deeper and deeper into poverty and despair.

Pong becomes our boyish Jean Valjean as he flees the long arm of the law and sees himself as condemned to be always running, always sinning. He wants freedom and thinks that he will do anything to obtain it, but eventually he learns the lesson: “You can’t run away from darkness. It’s everywhere. The only way to see through it is to shine a light.”

As I said, I thought this was a great novel, but there are a couple of caveats that might give some readers pause. It is, as I said, Buddhist with Buddhist monks and visions and prayers and a statue of Buddha at the center of the monastery, but it’s Buddhism-lite with not much Buddhist theology thrown in that I could see. In addition, one of the adult characters talks about the extramarital affair he had in the past, no sordid details, but it’s a plot point. If those two aspects of the book aren’t a problem for you, then I highly recommend A Wish in the Dark.