Book Review: The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

The Graveyard Book begins with a knife in the dark and the wholesale murder of a family; only the youngest member of the family, a toddler, escapes. Unaware that the murderer, a man called Jack, is pursuing him, the toddler finds his way to the local graveyard where the ghosts make the decision to look after him and name him Nobody Owens, or ‘Bod’ for short.

In his postscript to the book, Neil Gaiman points out that the debt he owes to Rudyard Kipling’s ‘The Jungle Book’. Once I read this, the influence became obvious, but instead of animals raising a human child it is, in a macabre twist, the dead. Just as Mowgli learns important lessons about life and growing up from the jungle animals so Bod is taught, in a rather haphazard way, by the graveyard inhabitants.

Some of the chapters are set a number of years apart, and almost form separate stories within the main narrative. Again, reading the author’s postscript, one almost gets the feeling that this was how it was written and my memory of the Jungle Book is that it had a similar feel. However, Gaiman sets the scene in the opening chapters and draws the narrative together in the closing chapters so that overall the individual pericopae form a satisfying cohesive whole.

With each chapter Bod encounters something, or someone new, and slowly he grows to adulthood. In marked contrast, the characters in the graveyard remain the same: ghostly children he played with as a child remain ghostly children. Then, just as Mowgli leaves the jungle to take his place with his own kind, so Bod must leave the graveyard to rejoin the living.

I found some of the individual chapters more enjoyable than others, but I think this was down to my personal preferences rather than any fault in the writing. The book is filled with both pathos and humour and, overall, I found it highly enjoyable story. It isn’t a long novel and, if I have one criticism, it is that it didn’t take me long to read and there is part of me that wished it had been longer. Nevertheless, I think this is a very minor criticism and I would still recommend this book.

If you would like to read The Graveyard Book, you can purchase a copy at Amazon
Alternatively, if you have a Kindle you can download a copy here

Book Review: Heritage of Shadows by Madeleine Brent

I have said before how much I used to enjoy reading my mum's Madeleine Brentbooks when I was younger. This has set me of on a nostaligic journey through some literary 'old friends'. However, chancing on A Heritage of Shadows on my mum's bookshelves, I realised that I had never read this story before.

In Heritage of Shadows our heroine is Hannah Mcleod, a young English girl who, because of a harsh series of events in her early years, has ended up working as a poor waitress in Montmartre. Nevertheless, she appears to be happy; working in the cafe and living in a garrett along side her neighbour, struggling artist Toby Kent.

One night she chances upon an American tourist who has fallen foul of the local thugs. She rescues him but finds herself accused of being involved in the crime. Fearing imprisonment in a Paris goal she accepts the offer of a mysterious Englishman to return England and join the household of Mr Sebastian Ryder.

Hannah is engaged as French tutor to Mr. Ryder’s two children and settles happily into the household; her duties are light and the family are friendly. However, when she encounters her old friend Toby Kent, now a successful artist, he warns her that things are not what they seem.

She is soon to discover that Mr. Ryder knows a lot more about her than she realised when he reveals the closely guarded secret of her childhood in a very public fashion. The revelation also sets in motion a train of events which sees Hannah’s life put in danger.

With the help of her loyal friends, and with the strength of character she developed in the adversity of her early years, Hannah is able to overcome all her trials. Finally, she returns to Paris to try and pick up the pieces of her former life and makes the greatest discovery of all.

In a previous post I wrote:

Brent's books always seem to start in an exotic location where a plucky female heroine lives. Always on the edge of society, the heroine both belongs and yet is an outsider. Usually a mysterious stranger enters her life and she must leave the familiar surroundings of her present life for the half remembered world of Victorian England. Mystery, intrigue and romance follow until, at last, she must return to the scene of her former life to solve the puzzle and discover her true love. The books then end happily ever after.

This book is no exception and, for the most part, follows this familiar pattern. However, I would say this is part of the joy of Brent's books: you know what to expect; it is the journey that makes the novels exciting.

However, a word of warning!

The secret of Hannah Mcleod's childhood is truly shocking. This is not a criticism of either the book or of the author: in many ways it made me appreciate Brent’s skill as an author even more. I would go on to argue that this is one of the author’s most powerful novels. As always the historical research that lies behind the book appears impecable, and all without the benefit of the Internet! Nevertheless, some readers may find parts of the book distasteful, particularly if they view the author as something of a cosy writer of romances.