The Ten Thousand Doors of January

by Alix E. Harrow

At the beginning of the 20th century, January Scaller lives in a big mansion with her guardian, Cornelius Locke. What may seem to be a privileged existence is marred by the strict rules imposed on the red-skinned girl, the meager living quarters assigned to her, and the fact that her father, Julian, who works for Locke, is almost never around. When she was seven, January discovered a magic door, which was then destroyed. Her guardian convinces her it was only her imagination, and determines to raise her to be a "proper" lady. Locke entertains his fellows from the New England Archeological Society, and these men treat January as a curiosity, sometimes making her feel vaguely threatened. January often explores the artifacts kept throughout the mansion, convinced her father—who is distant even when he is home from hunting special artifacts for Locke—is leaving items for her in a chest, in order to communicate with her. She becomes concerned when he fails to return from his most recent trip.

January's only companions are Jane, an African mystery woman sent by Julian to be her governess, and Bad, short for Sindbad, her loyal dog. When she was younger, she was friends with Samuel Zappia, the grocer's boy, but as she grew older the contact between them fizzled out.

When January finds a special book in the chest, The Ten Thousand Doors, she is more than intrigued. The book tells of a young woman from the South who meets a young man who comes through a mysterious door. Though the encounter is brief, the girl is completely enamored. When she returns to the spot again, she finds the door burnt down. She becomes determined to find her young man by exploring the world to find another door.

At the start, January believes the work is fiction. But when Locke tells her that Julian is dead, she sparks her latent power to bend reality to her will through the written word. She uses her power to escape what has now become an acutely dangerous situation with Locke and his cohort, and embarks on an entirely unexpected adventure with Jane, Samuel and Bad. It turns out that her story and the story in her book are intertwined, and that the thousands of doors are real, scattered all over our world. each connecting to another world.