BOOK NOOK; In The Night Wood by Dale Bailey

In the Night Wood is a literary novel steeped in pagan folklore, with a text that is lyrically poetic and intelligently verbose. Based on the Germanic fairytale of The Erl-King,  my copy is a beautiful hardback book with a silvery-blue metallic cover design, reminiscent of a tapestry.  This seems to be the current trend in publishing at the moment - cover art that looks like a William Morris print and such covers do make lovely books.  I like my books to be beautiful as well as interesting.  

This novel is like nothing I have ever read before.  There is an old house that is haunted, but not by a ghost; a crime that was committed long ago, but which still echoes through time; and a series of little lost girls who all look alike, who all have the same initial - Livia, Laura, Lissa and Lorna - and who are all linked in some way, but how?  There is a wood within a wood, a wall within a wall and a book within a book, which creates layer upon layer of storytelling narrative. Pathetic fallacy is evident throughout the text and is used very effectively to build atmosphere on the page.  It's intriguing. It draws you in and holds you spellbound. 

The main protagonist is Charles, who has a fascination with a Victorian novel called In The Night Wood.  Fate leads him to meet and marry the descendent of the author and when his wife inherits Hallow House, the house in which the book was written, they move to Yorkshire to take up residence and to try and build a new life together, following the death of their little girl.  

But there is a growing feeling of oppression from the forest that surrounds the house and as Charles begins to research more about his favourite book and it's author, he discovers that the woods hold onto a dark secret of pagan origin - for in the wood within a wood, he meets none other than the Horned God and King of the Woods, Cernnunos.   In this novel though, the pagan deity assumes his spookier aspect of Lord of Death and the Underworld and he is demanding sacrifice. 

With secret codes to break and Gothic mysteries to unravel, it's a fantastic novel of spooky brilliance.  Like most modern literary novels, its fairly short in length, but it is definitely a page turner and well worth reading, especially if you like a pagan twist in the tale.  It certainly kept me entertained through the stormy weather that is currently raging around my house right now, and I found myself humming  Hoof and Horn, from my Moonchants album as I read.  It's a stormy book, perfect for a stormy night...enjoy!

BOOK NOOK; The Beast's Heart by Leife Shallcross

"Anyone who has ever fallen in love will know that when the realisation strikes - that you love that person above all others and want to spend the rest of your days by their side - this is accompanied by an urge to run and shout it from the mountaintops." 

from The Beast's Heart

If you have been reading my work for a while, you will probably be aware that I adore fairytales and in recent years there has been a publishing trend for classic fairytales being retold as full length novels.  This, The Beast's Heart, is a novel of Beauty and the Beast, but it is told entirely from the Beast's perspective.  It is a very beautiful book, gilded all over with golden leaves on the covers, so it makes a very pretty addition to my ever growing collection of fairytale hardbacks and collector's editions.

The novel begins right after the curse has been cast, when the Beast finds himself wandering in the forest, confused, grieving and all alone.  He lives like an animal for some time, but then his true nature begins to take over, leading him back to his beloved chateau on the edge of the woods.  There he struggles to regain what is left of his humanity, in a house that has been enchanted to provide for his every want and need. He has everything he could wish for - except companionship.

So when a lost traveller happens across his chateau one freezing, snowy night, the Beast takes the opportunity to demand payment for his hospitality in the form of the traveller's daughter.  And so begins the familiar tale we all know from childhood.  When Isabeau arrives, the Beast does his best to woo her, asking her repeatedly to marry him, but although she is growing increasingly fond of the Beast, although she loves him in her heart; due to his circumstances, she always refuses him.  

They spend their days getting to know one another gradually. She plays piano and sings for him; he reads romance and poetry to her. 

The Beast has a magic mirror which he uses to keep an eye on Isabeau's family while she is absent.  He spends hours just watching them, learning what he can about her family-life and upbringing. 

In this respect the magic mirror reminds me of the Internet, where we can see the daily activities of loved ones who are often miles away, sometimes right across the globe.  How easy it is to become mesmerised by the visions of those we love, within the magic mirror of the screen; haunted by images of those we know, yet never see; of those we love, but who have left, for whatever reason.

As the Beast watches Isabeau's father succumb to depression and then illness, he relents and allows her to go home for one week, but when she fails to return at the appointed time, he falls into a deep despair and fears that she is lost to him for good.  All he wants, is to know that she will come back to him, as soon as she is able to do so and that she hasn't forsaken him and left him for good. All he needs is that reassurance - just a seed of hope that she will return to him eventually and that they will go on as they did before. 

When that reassurance doesn't come in time, the Beast wilts into the deep pain of loss, finding himself collapsed on the ground and alone in the woods once more.  Will his Beauty come back in time to save him?  You'll have to read the novel to find out. 

Beauty and the Beast is one of my favourite fairytales and I have read other novel versions of this story, which you can read about here.  I like the way it portrays unconditional love and how Beauty has to become comfortable with the Beast, in all his moods and tantrums, before she can settle down with the Prince, once the curse is broken.  The Beast's Heart is a lovely rendition of this classic tale and I hope that the author is going to write more fairytale novels in the future, because I enjoyed this one immensely.