Synopsis:
Sussex, England. A middle-aged man returns to his childhood home to attend a funeral. Although the house he lived in is long gone, he is drawn to the farm at the end of the road, where, when he was seven, he encountered a most remarkable girl, Lettie Hempstock, and her mother and grandmother. He hasn’t thought of Lettie in decades, and yet as he sits by the pond (a pond that she’d claimed was an ocean) behind the ramshackle old farmhouse, the unremembered past comes flooding back. And it is a past too strange, too frightening, too dangerous to have happened to anyone, let alone a small boy.
Forty years earlier, a man committed suicide in a stolen car at this farm at the end of the road. Like a fuse on a firework, his death lit a touchpaper and resonated in unimaginable ways. The darkness was unleashed, something scary and thoroughly incomprehensible to a little boy. And Lettie—magical, comforting, wise beyond her years—promised to protect him, no matter what.
Review:
This is my first Neil Gaiman book and I won’t be the last. Are all his books this delightful? I was swept up into this magical, heart stopping adventure and couldn’t put the book down, nor fault it. It is a masterpiece! This book is took me back to my childhood, calm and carefree. This brilliant story has everything your heart desires: daring characters, magic, wonderful adventures and friendship. Though this is an adult book it is narrated through the eyes of a young boy and captivates you with his innocence and the fears that he overcomes.
The book opens with a middle age man that hits a low in his life. He winds ups diving in a daze and found himself drawn to a place of comfort where he reflects on his memories. He draws on the memories of living at home with his mother, father and sister where all seemed normal until he comes across an abnormal family and a mysterious pond in the back yard.
Set in the quiet countryside of England gave the book that comfortable yet lonely appeal, where you would expect nothing out of ordinary to take place. You will find the characters charming, delightful as they invite and take you on their adventure. You made find yourself sitting there filled with sympathy for the leading character with his luck of understanding on how the world is full of dread and the hard lessons that lay before him as an adult.
The unnamed protagonist that this story centers around is a simple child filled with innocence, and how he concurs his fear through love, support and friendship. Who comes across Lettie Hempstock, a young vibrant girl who speaks in riddles and has a young Mary Poppins feel about her and her mother and grandmother as well. Gaiman writes this family into your hearts with ease and you find yourself a side member of the family as you read, watch and experience their lives and the old tales they tell.
There are elements of the story that are creepy and heart stopping moments they leave you sitting there biting your tongue and wondering where the remainder of the story leads to. This is by far my favorite read of 2017 and this is a book that needs to be at the top of your TBR!! I adored this Gailman book and I am currently on Book Depository looking at getting more!