Book 194: The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman
Book 194: The Ocean at the End of the Lane.
Author: Neil Gaiman, 2013.
Genre: Fantasy. Horror.
Other Details: Hardback. 248 pages.
It began for our narrator forty years ago when the family lodger stole their car and committed suicide in it, stirring up ancient powers best left undisturbed. Dark creatures from beyond this world are on the loose, and it will take everything our narrator has just to stay alive: there is primal horror here, and menace unleashed - within his family and from the forces that have gathered to destroy it. His only defence is three women, on a farm at the end of the lane. The youngest of them claims that her duckpond is an ocean. The oldest can remember the Big Bang. - synopsis from UK publisher's website.
There are some very chilling moments in the novel and due to this I have classed it as horror; that particular kind of horror obtained in childhood that lingers in the subconscious. However, alongside this there is also a great deal of lyrical fantasy within its pages. I found this an amazing book that I read in a single sitting as it was so compelling. It confirmed once more what a stunning story-teller Neil Gaiman is.
It seems strange that this was marketed as an adult book when its narrator spends most of the time aged seven years old even if he opens his narration as a middle-aged adult returning to the place where he grew up and recalling the experiences that happened all those years ago. So while Gaiman's works such as The Graveyard Book are aimed at younger readers but have an appeal for adults, the reverse is certainly applicable here.
A.S. Byatt's Review of 'The Ocean at the End of the Lane' - The Guardian 3 July 2013
Cross-posted to 50bookchallenge.