Thomcat
8/2/2024
An inheritance and a ghostly appearance kick off this book about subtle magic in an English countryside. Over the course of the story we learn about fields of care and boundaries, but not quite enough about counterparts and contracts.
This book contains humor and mystery. The dialogue is thoroughly British at times, but always accessible. I read this as an audiobook, and the reader (Steven Crossley) did an excellent job with the various country folk. Like many of Jones books, this is somewhat young adult (it won a Locus award in that category), but equally accessible to older readers. This would have been a fun book to read aloud with my kids!
I was left wanting to know more about the fields of care, but then so did the main character I suppose. Counterparts, something O.Brown did not approve of, weren't really explained well, nor why he sought refuge in this particular location.
The author passed shortly after this book was published. I would love to see this story receive a graphic novel or film treatment, as well as reach a larger audience. 4½ stars (out of 5)