THE KETTLE POURS A UNIVERSE

Intrigue unfolds when a young girl and her mother accept an invitation to tea from a mysterious old man in Scifo’s novella.

As the novel opens, we find a young girl and her mother working on an ancient tea farm owned by two brothers. Despite the constant hard work, the pair is happy together. One day, the girl stumbles upon an old man whom she believes may be the rumored village warlock. She and her mother find themselves inside the old man’s cottage after he invites them inside for tea to escape a gathering storm: “Tea is an art, a practice of presence—to stop everything else, quiet ourselves, and reconnect to our surroundings…Birds really enjoy tea, as do clouds, mountains, rivers, trees, and stars.” Soon, the mother notices an old ceramic bowl, which the old man says he found tucked inside a bush. This revelation prompts the mother to share a tragic tale involving the little girl’s father. In turn, the old man reveals his own story of the tea farm—one that spans almost 100 years. As the trio shares tea, stories, and company, they soon begin to realize that their lives will never be the same. Scifo’s descriptions are simply beautiful, vividly rendering seemingly ordinary vistas in elegant prose: “She had finally made it to the land of clouds. She took in the elevated view, much higher than she was used to, following the pastel river water from the city, upstream into the mountains it spilled from…” Some readers may find the lack of character names a tad frustrating (people are referred to simply as “the master,” “the river woman,” etc.), but the cast of characters is manageable enough so names aren’t essential. Scifo ultimately offers no less than a soul-stirring poetic meditation on human relationships and how we relate to the natural world.

A lyrical story of interconnectedness that proves as soothing and enjoyable as the drink it celebrates.