How well do you know your neighbours?
That very question was one of many sources
of inspiration for Neil Gaiman’s eerie work of fantasy fiction The
Ocean at the End of the Lane, the book chosen for April’s book club at
Halifax Central Library. In one video interview, Gaiman
recalls learning in his childhood that a neighbouring farm was noted in the Domesday Book, an 11th-century
record of a survey of England. This discovery prompted Gaiman to muse: “Wouldn’t
it be interesting if the people who lived on the farm had been there for a
thousand years and nobody had noticed?”
Such is the case in this story with the enigmatic,
unchanging women of the Hempstock farm—a grandmother, mother, and daughter who
have existed since time immemorial. The anonymous narrator finds himself at the
Hempstock farm after a funeral prompts him to revisit places from his childhood.
Dark and distant memories come creeping in, sending the reader back to the
narrator’s boyhood to a time when a traumatic experience stimulates the
manifestation of a sinister force in the form a new lodger—Ursula Monkton—at
the boy’s home. While his family becomes enchanted by her, Ursula’s evil doings
put the boy’s very life in danger. Yet, on his own, he is powerless against
her.
At the same time, this lonely boy befriends
his neighbours, the mysterious Hempstocks, and is delighted to have found a new
companion in the daughter, Lettie. The boy learns that he must rely on the
Hempstock women if Ursula is to be defeated, yet their quest to do so does not
come without cost.
Although I’ve sometimes shied away from
fantasy fiction, I love books that leave me with lots to ponder after I’ve
finished—and this book was definitely one of them. I was captivated by Gaiman’s
lyrical writing style, his vivid descriptions, and how, in the world he
creates, magic secretly lingers within ordinary settings and objects. The protagonist
is highly sympathetic and fascinating for his rich inner life. Mystical,
haunting, and sometimes downright scary, this tale is also a celebration of
childhood and wonder and prompts reflection on such themes as memory, forgetting,
loneliness, loss, and time.
Interested in other atmospheric fantasy
fiction titles with child protagonists? Try
Jo Walton’s Among
Others for a tale that is both suspenseful and nostalgic. Ray
Bradbury’s character-driven
Something
Wicked This Way Comes will give you the chills with its creepy tone,
while John Connolly's action-packed
The
Book of Lost Things incorporates retellings of old fairy tales.
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