48 pages • 1 hour read
Kate MilfordGreenglass House
Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 2014A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
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BetaThemes
Childhood Bonding Through Adventure
The innocence, curiosity, and boundless imagination of childhood create a fertile ground for deep and lasting connections. Through the characters of Meddy and Milo, Kate Milford explores how children bond through adventure and illustrates how the whimsical and imaginative nature of childhood play creates a backdrop against which friendships blossom organically. One of the primary ways children bond is by engaging in shared exploration. Meddy explains how applying the structure of a role-playing game will enhance their investigation of the mysteries of Greenglass House: “It’s an adventure within a game world. Our game world is your house, and our adventure—our campaign—is going to be figuring out the mystery behind that chart” (52). Whether it is exploring the treasures of the Emporium, collating clues behind the Christmas tree, or searching the guest rooms for stolen items, the collaborative act of discovery fosters a sense of unity between Meddy and Milo and the shared thrill of the unknown becomes a common thread knitting the new friends together in a tapestry of shared experiences.
The role-playing game allows Meddy and Milo to create new personas and narratives that let them explore new aspects of their personalities. Meddy describes her scholiast character, “She’d just be excited to be able to join the adventure. But she might be very useful in terms of seeing things Negret can’t” (66). This shared narrative fosters creativity and cooperation, mirroring the real-life connections forged through childhood play. Creating their role-playing personas helps them learn about each other’s strengths and weaknesses and appreciate their newfound abilities. The more time Meddy and Milo spend together, the more their game binds them together as friends. As they navigate obstacles and learn to trust one another, they feel more at ease being vulnerable and sharing their fears and anxieties. Milo becomes more comfortable sharing his experience of being adopted, and Meddy shares her truth with Milo when she reveals that she is a ghost. The game makes it possible for them to bond in ways that might have been impossible otherwise.
Finally, the role-playing game allows Milo and Meddy to bond not only with each other but with their families. Both children have felt misunderstood and alienated, Milo because of the way people react to him not looking like his parents, and Meddy because since is a ghost, people misunderstand her intentions for being in the house. Though Meddy lost her parents through death, Milo can empathize with her experience of feeling alone. When Milo discovers that his father also played Odd Trails as a boy, and Meddy discovers that her father’s treasure is an Odd Trials figurine that he left for her, they discover a sense of connection and lineage with their families that they had been missing before. Milo may not be his father’s biological son, but that does not mean that he has not inherited his adopted family’s legacy. What began as a reluctant acceptance to play a game that he found silly and confusing becomes a gateway to friendship and belonging. Milo and Meddy’s adventures with the role-playing game illustrate the unique way childhood experiences can bond two people together and solidify intergenerational connections.
Search for Identity
In her author’s note, Kate Milford explains that in 2010, her family decided to pursue international adoption in China. In 2011, her inspiration for Greenglass House came when she received the prompt “stained glass” from her writing group. She explains how the two ideas merged: “[W]hen I chose the makeup of the family who ran the inn, it meant adoption would be a part of the story. A lens—not the only one, but an important one through which Milo views the world” (“Greenglass House: An Author’s Note”). By including this storyline, Milford’s narrative moves beyond just unraveling the mystery of the house and becomes an exploration of the complexities of self-discovery, belonging, and the impact of personal history. The novel opens as an intriguing cast of characters arrive, all harboring hidden histories and secret identities. As Milo unravels the mysteries of Greenglass House and its inhabitants, he discovers the interconnectedness of their stories. Through the author’s employment of the mystery trope, the characters also gradually come to understand their identity and what drew them to Greenglass House. Milford’s characterization acknowledges how personal histories, whether revealed or concealed, contribute to a deeper understanding of the self.
Meddy and Milo’s game becomes a metaphor for their exploration of identity. Through assuming different roles within the game, they grapple with aspects of individuality and experiment with various aspects of their personalities. The game becomes a space for Milo to navigate questions about his heritage in a controlled and imaginative environment. Meddy says, “You can be anything, almost. You can be anybody” (54). Milo creates a character who has a deep connection to his biological family as a way to explore that side of himself without feeling guilt about how his adoptive parents might feel. Milo explains that solving a mystery is only part of the work and that disentangling one’s identity is a far more challenging task. “It is not merely our adversaries we must investigate, he imagined the old blackjack lecturing. We must always work to know ourselves better, too” (95). The forced seclusion inside the inn moves the house guests, along with the inn’s permanent residents, to examine their lives and know themselves more fully. However, along with that introspection comes a recognition that not every question can be answered. Mrs. Hereward’s story illustrates the barriers to understanding destiny when Sloe explains to Julian, “[T]he problem with asking about your destiny […] is that it can’t possibly help you to know anything about it. Knowing would make you change your behavior somehow, and there’s no way to be sure whether that would help or hurt your cause” (117). Some characters must be content leaving Greenglass House without the full knowledge of what their future holds, and Milo must remain and contend with the unanswered questions about his past.
Milo’s status as a foundling sets the stage for a profound exploration of identity and becomes a catalyst for his internal quest to understand his origins, leading him to question his sense of self and place: “One of the problems with knowing nothing about the family you were born into was that you never really stopped wondering about it” (53). Owen’s surprise arrival and his revelation that he too is a foundling prompts Milo to think more deeply about his origins. Through Owen and Milo, the author examines the emotional complexities associated with adoption and the desire to uncover one’s roots. Milo and Owen’s interaction underscores the importance of recognizing and embracing cultural heritage as an integral part of one’s identity. By the end of the novel, Milo is at peace with his position as a Pine: “Just as he’d decided who Negret was, he got to decide who Milo was. He got to choose who and what he was going to be from now on” (344). Furthermore, through his conversation with his mother, the author highlights the importance of recognizing the complexities of identity formation in adopted children and the value of supporting their quest to understand their history in the process of self-discovery.
The Power of Folklore, Storytelling, and Myth
The town of Nagspeake is steeped in folklore, with tales of smugglers, pirates, and hidden treasures. At the center is the mysterious Greenglass House. The legends contribute to the town’s mystique, creating an atmosphere of both danger and allure as well as establishing a sense of history and tradition in the world of Nagspeake and its residents. The novel unfolds during the winter season, a time traditionally associated with storytelling and enchantment, and the wintry setting becomes a backdrop for tales told around a cozy fire sipping hot chocolate and tea. By crafting detailed folklore for both the setting and the characters, Milford creates a world where the boundaries between reality and myth are blurred. Storytelling becomes the primary narrative device through which the mystery of Greenglass House and its guests is unraveled. At the same time, some characters use stories to weave their history anew. Georgie states, “Never overlook folklore if you want to really know about the place it came from” (369). Unpacking the mythos of Nagspeake and Greenglass House through his unplanned houseguests ultimately leads Milo in search of his origins and identity.
Greenglass House serves as a central fixture of myth and folklore in the narrative as the inn quickly fills with mysterious guests who all appear to have an interest in elements of its history. As Milo begins reading The Raconteur’s Commonplace Book, he learns more about Nagspeake lore. Once the guests begin spinning their yarns, the tales not only reveal clues about their identities but also long-held secrets about the inn’s history. The guests’ stories aid Milo in understanding their motives for being at the inn and simultaneously teach valuable lessons. Just as fables and myths are traditionally used to pass along culture and impart wisdom to the younger generation, the stories told at Greenglass House remind the listeners of timeless lessons like avoiding prideful foolishness. For example, Mrs. Hereward’s story reveals her quest to find Julian Roamer’s relics, but the fable is also a lesson about the role of destiny in one’s life. Georgie’s story reveals her connection to Clem through the love triangle and helps her accept losing Owen. As Mrs. Hereward and Georgie both begin their stories with the invitation to “listen,” the author invokes a time-honored storytelling tradition and establishes the power of storytelling in a culture or an individual’s life.
Milo and Meddy also use the role-playing game to create a parallel narrative within the narrative. This game-within-a-story blurs the lines between reality and fantasy as Milo and Meddy assume roles, embark on quests, and create a shared narrative that helps them piece together the mystery. For Milo, this storytelling medium serves not only as a source of entertainment but also as a means of self-discovery and emotional expression as he explores his identity as an adoptee and uses his Negret persona to craft history from his biological family. Mrs. Hereward expresses the imaginative and transformative power of the story: “I believe I will decide to say, ‘What if?’ […] Anything is possible, isn’t it?” (246). The possibilities opened up by storytelling within their role-playing game free Milo and Meddy to imagine possibilities for themselves that they might never have otherwise.
As the narrative arc of the novel comes to a close, it feels as though some characters’ stories are just beginning. Though Milo solves the mystery of the unexpected guests, Milo’s questions about his origins remain. As Dr. Gowervine reminds them in his story, “This story’s true, and true stories don’t have endings, because things just keep going” (220). Milo concedes that he may never have the full story of his life, but he accepts that his story is still being written and he has dreams of adding many more adventurous chapters ahead.
