Book Review: The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman, illustrated by Elise Hurst

The Ocean at the End of the Lane
Illustrated by Elise Hurst
by Neil Gaiman

While I've been picking up Gaiman books for a while I steered clear of this one for some reason.  At one point I think I read a description that made me think this was a fairly "normal" contemporary novel.  I really should have known better as nothing Gaiman writes could be considered normal or ordinary.  This book is definitely classified as fantasy and while it starts out in our regular world it quickly takes a different tack.

“They say you cannot go home again, and that is as true as a knife . . .”

A man returns to the site of his childhood home where, years before, he knew a girl named Lettie Hempstock who showed him the most marvelous, dangerous, and outrageous things, but when he gets there he learns that nothing is as he remembered.

Wondrous, imaginative, impossible, and at times deeply scary, The Ocean at the End of the Lane is classic Neil Gaiman and has captured the hearts of readers everywhere. This beautiful illustrated edition features haunting, emotive artwork by renowned fine artist Elise Hurst, whose illustrations seamlessly interweave the childhood wonder and harrowing danger that infuse Gaiman’s beloved tale.
--from Harper Collins website

This book was first published as a standard novel and the story is definitely good and I'm sure the first version of the book is good.  However, I find the illustrated edition is an improvement.  The illustrations are done by Elise Hurst, an illustrator whose work I haven't seen before.

The illustration style is charcoal, which I think lends itself well to the story.  There are a number of full two-page spreads, including many with the background in black with white text and illustrations focused on light.

A number of the illustrations really serve to pull you into the story.

The plot follows an adult man who has returned to the area where he grew up due to a funeral.  He drives to where his family house use to stand and then to a nearby farm where a friend lived.  This property is at the end of the road and has a pond that his friend called an ocean, hence the title "The Ocean at the End of the Lane."  As an adult he sits down by the ocean and starts to remember what happened to him when he was a child.

"Memories were waiting at the edges of things, beckoning to me."

Interestingly enough the family of his friend (the Hempstocks) feature in several other Gaiman books, though I'd forgotten about them until I read an article on the subject (The Graveyard Book and Stardust).  Though the story is primarily about a child it isn't a book for children.  There isn't much content that is objectionable (depending upon your taste) but it is not written at a child/young adult level but for adults.  I found myself reading the story slowly to savor it, though I could have raced through it faster than I did--I still ended up finishing it less than a week after I received it.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5
Summary: A haunting remembrance of a childhood adventure long forgotten.
Technical: Hardcover, 328 pages, ISBN 9780062995315

~Matt