Every Heart a Doorway

"Yes! Ah, it’s such a sad premise. In this book, there’s a special home for teenagers who have been through a portal, and come back, and can’t find their way out again. They love their worlds. Nancy has been in the land of the dead, and she desperately misses the slow, quiet transcendence of that world. Her heart is broken. Of course, no one believes her – until she is taken to Miss West, who runs the home and the others under her care, who have all gone through their own doorways. Nancy’s parents believe it’s a rehab-type institution, but really it’s a sanctuary. They are each other’s best comfort. All of them are deeply strange as citizens of this world, but perfectly suited to the world they left – pleasingly representing, between them, the standard gamut of fantasy and sci-fi vibes you might expect to find on a well-stocked bookshelf. The book itself is then structured around a murder mystery. It’s neatly executed. But it’s that core concept that has stuck with me. Yes, it’s a novella. It won the Nebula, the Hugo and the Locus for best novella. It reads perfectly as a standalone, but it’s the first in a series, so there’s plenty more there for people who would like to linger a little longer. Which, I suppose, is exactly the opposite of the wayward children’s predicament. Exactly! What a perfect idea."