Book Review: Thursbitch

Thursbitch by Alan Garner
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Another superb title by Garner, am slowly working my way though his books. This takes his usual themes of estranged individuals negotiating themselves and each other amongst a haunted environment. In this case the text follows a couple of friends/lovers as they explore the strange hills, valleys and strange almost shifting landscape. Garner repeatedly revisits the theme of locations or places which are 'haunted' or possessed by individuals and events which occurred there in the past.

Thursbitch focuses on John Turner, or Jack as he is named in the story who is journeyman or trader who travels long distances, and brings back all kinds of wonders for his immediate family: wonderfully embroidered lace on pockets, carved stone beakers. John seems to act as an unofficial keeper of the mysteries amongst the village - he regularly ingests hallucinogenic mushrooms and leads revels involving the worship of a bull figure (who appears as a vision) on the fields. Honey is smeared across stones as part of the worship of the god/s of the local vicinity.

As always standing stones play a central role in the story, here they are referred to almost as if they are people, all have names, and they seem almost to stalk the hills and environs, patrolling their borders. shifting location. Bees play a vital role in John's story, but as with all Garner's mysterious novels this is an obtuse and at times complex and frustrating tale. The background and history of the modern and historical characters isn't spelled out, we are left to piece together the unspoken.

The story ultimately deals with two different characters (I did at one point wonder if the character of John/Jack is 'reincarnated' in the body of the man in the contemporary half of the novel, although this isn't suggested as such, but there are many parallels between them, maybe Garner exploring again how history repeats itself and experiences are mirrored), and their coping with mortality and grief. John/Jack's apparent breakdown and solace in Christianity as a hellfire preacher was particularly moving, and his fury and anger towards the regional god/s who he had always worshipped was moving.

I felt the story explored our search for meaning and our struggle with the transience of people, places and time, but also about acceptance of what is, limnal spaces, and how eventually we will return to where we came from, return to the earth.

Wonderfully mesmeric and magical prose, incredibly atmospheric. Would definitely read this again, a great deal of symbolism and hidden layers to the story and text, at times obfuscated by Garner's use of dialect, but once I got used to this it was very rewarding. No one else writes like this.

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