Splendors and Glooms

Splendors and Glooms by Laura Amy Schlitz (Candlewick Press, 2012) is a Gothic novel for young adult readers that follows three children on their individual journeys through grief to find love. The book was a New York Times best seller and received the 2013 Newbery Honor award for excellence in children’s literature. Schlitz has penned numerous award-winning books for middle graders and young adults, including The Hired Girl (Scott O’Dell Award for Historical Fiction) and Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! (Newbery Medal). She has spent most of her career working as a librarian and storyteller, and she currently works as lower-school librarian at the Park School in Baltimore, MD. Schlitz graduated from Goucher College in 1977.

This guide follows the 2012 first edition of Splendors and Glooms.

Plot Summary

Splendors and Glooms revolves around rich girl Clara Wintermute and orphans Lizzie Rose and Parsefall as the three struggle to escape the decades-old feud between a puppet master and the woman he scorned. Seven years before the story begins, Clara lost her four siblings to cholera. Her home has been in mourning ever since, and Clara lives in the shadow of her lost siblings, feeling unloved by her grieving mother and distant father.

For her 12th birthday, Clara asks for the great puppet master Grisini and his helpers (Lizzie Rose and Parsefall) to perform. Clara is enthralled by the show, though she finds Grisini disturbing. Unknown to Clara, Grisini is a wicked magician. Before he leaves her house, he enchants his magic watch to bring Clara to him later that night; when she arrives, he turns her into a puppet, intending to ransom her back to her parents.

Meanwhile, under Grisini’s orders, Parsefall steals a picture of Clara’s dead brother from the Wintermute home. After Clara’s disappearance, the police question the two children about her whereabouts; the questions prompt Lizzie Rose to investigate Grisini’s past. She soon discovers that other children have gone missing around him before. Though Parsefall begs Lizzie Rose to drop the issue, because Grisini will punish them if she doesn’t, Lizzie Rose tells the police, who Grisini realizes are now tailing him. At home, Grisini begins raging at Lizzie Rose for ratting on him, and the children flee. When Grisini gives chase, he falls down the stairs, hitting his head and losing consciousness.

The night of Grisini’s injury, a woman from his past (Cassandra) summons him. Years ago, Grisini warned Cassandra against keeping the phoenix-stone—a fire opal with great power—because it would lead to her death. Under Cassandra’s power, Grisini goes to her home and explains that the only way to be rid of the stone is for a child to steal it. He insists Cassandra invite his wards to her home, promising one of them will steal the stone, which he intends to use for his own gain.

Clara’s father visits Grisini’s home, intending to question the man about his daughter’s disappearance. There, he discovers the stolen picture and warns Lizzie Rose he will send the police. Frightened and desperate to escape the city, Lizzie Rose and Parsefall follow the instructions in Cassandra’s letter, taking Clara’s puppet with them. Cassandra, on receiving the children in her home, tempts them with the phoenix-stone despite knowing whichever child steals it will live a long life of misery. However, through the spell that Grisini cast on Clara, Cassandra awakens magic that allows Clara to gain greater control over her will; Clara uses her power to battle against Grisini’s fearful hold over Parsefall, striving to keep the stone out of the magician’s hands.

When Cassandra learns of Grisini’s deceptions, she tortures the magician before unblocking Parsefall’s memories of Grisini’s past abuse. Parsefall attempts again to steal the stone, hoping to exact revenge on Grisini, but Clara uses her magic to break her puppet spell. Clara takes the stone out to the nearby lake and douses it in the frozen water. Grisini dives in after the stone, drowning, finally freeing the children of the magician and his dark magic.

Without the stone, Cassandra is powerless and dying. She leaves her home to Lizzie Rose, and Clara brings both Lizzie Rose and Parsefall to live with her, rebuilding her family. Clara starts to move on from the guilt she carries for her siblings’ deaths, and the story ends with the three children finally feeling loved and able to pursue the lives they want.