"Once upon a time – for that is how all stories should begin – there was a boy who lost his mother.”
The first line of John Connolly's 'The Book of Lost Things' is a prelude for what is to come.
Released in 2006 and nominated for 'Irish Novel of the Year' in 2007, this isn't your average coming-of-age fantasy story. It may sound like a fairy tale, but Connolly himself has warned that this isn't a book for children.
The Irish author is best known for his New York Times bestselling crime series about detective Charlie Parker, but Connolly considers 'The Book of Lost Things' to be his magnum opus.
The book revolves around 12-year-old David, who has just lost his mother to cancer in WWII-torn England.
Consumed by anger and grief at his mother's death and his father's subsequent relationship with a new woman, things are further complicated by the birth of David's half-brother Georgie.
Then David begins to hear the books in his room whispering to him at night, and the Crooked Man begins to appear.
When a German plane crashes into the sunken garden where David is standing, he wakes up in a strange fantasy world full of dangerous creatures and twisted fairytale characters.
Here is part of the synopsis from Connolly's official website:
"As war rages across Europe, David is violently propelled into a land that is both a construct of his imagination yet frighteningly real, a strange reflection of his own world composed of myths and stories, populated by wolves and worse-than-wolves, and ruled over by a faded king who keeps his secrets in a legendary book...
"The Book of Lost Things."
In this world, Rumplestiltskin takes the form of a terrifying and sinister creature - who lures David into the world by telling the boy that his mother is alive and needs his help - known as 'The Crooked Man'. He is a fascinating and disturbing villain, and one of his uttered monologues to David towards the end of the book lives long in the memory.
David is assisted by the friendly and courageous Woodsman, who is based on the "Little Red Riding Hood" character of the same name. Little Red Riding Hood herself is responsible for birthing the first half-wolf, half-human 'loup'.
The soldier Roland, from the English poem "Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came", is seeking the Dark Tower to find his missing friend Raphael.
Elsewhere, Snow White, Hansel and Gretal and Goldilocks get significant makeovers:
“You mean…they killed her (Goldilocks)?” asked David.
“They ate her,” said Brother Number One. “With porridge. That’s what ‘ran away and was never seen again’ means in these parts. It means 'eaten'.” “Um, and what about ‘happily ever after?'” asked David, a little uncertainly. “What does that mean?” “Eaten quickly,” said Brother Number One.
This is a book that can pull the rug out from under you at any time. It is at times funny, perverse, haunting and heartbreaking. There are a number of excellent twists, including the revelations about the fabled king and his 'book of lost things'.
'The Book of Lost Things' is a unique study of grief, loss and growing up, and don't expect your typical "happy-ever-after" ending.
You'll be thinking about the ending for a long time after you close the book.
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