We meet Joe Coppock, a youngish lad alone in an apparently isolated house. From the dialect (and what we know of Alan Garner), it appears to be in the Cheshire area. A rag-and-bone man appears – the eponymous Treacle Walker, who knows Joe’s name...and then a mixture of everyday and strange, mystical things happen as Joe’s “lazy eye” develops a curious kind of vision. An ancient sleeper in a bog awakens, and Joe begins to learn…
It really is rather odd, but there’s a compelling, ultimately rather satisfying narrative even though much is left unsaid. The things Garner has always done so well are well in evidence here: the evocation of the power of ancient myth, the sense of deep, ancient mystery and powers in the landscape and also the brilliant language in his use of local dialect, in old rhymes and sayings and in touches of invented language, too. To me, these things carried echoes of The Owl Service, Red Shift and The Stone Book quartet, which I first read many years ago and have stayed with me ever since. I think Treacle Walker will do the same. I read it almost in one sitting, somehow quite spellbound. I think it’s exceptionally good and is very warmly recommended. (And I hope it wins the Booker, too!)
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