The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman ★★★★★ A middle-aged man returns to his childhood home to attend a funeral. Although the house he lived in is long gone, he is drawn to the farm at the end of the road, where, when he was seven, he encountered a most remarkable girl, Lettie Hempstock, and her mother and grandmother. He hasn’t thought of Lettie in decades, and yet as he sits by the pond (a pond that she’d claimed was an ocean) behind the ramshackle old farmhouse, the unremembered past comes flooding back. And it is a past too strange, too frightening, too dangerous to have happened to anyone, let alone a small boy. Forty years earlier, a man committed suicide in a stolen car at this farm at the end of the road. Like a fuse on a firework, his death lit a touchpaper and resonated in unimaginable ways. The darkness was unleashed, something scary and thoroughly incomprehensible to a little boy. And Lettie—magical, comforting, wise beyond her years—promised to protect him, no matter what. Where do I even begin to express my love for this book? The Ocean at the End of the Lane is the epitome of “short but sweet.” Gaiman’s impossible tale of magic, fear, and bravery is clever and mysterious. It feels old, like a story that’s been waiting to be told, and Gaiman is the one to tell it. His mastery of the ability to make readers believe and his careful crafting of the lovable, relateable, fantastic characters make this book an instant favorite. Read this book if you want to remember what childhood innocence is, if you want to remember why you didn't want to grow up. Read this book if you'r
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Once Upon a Time...As a longtime lover of stories and a believer in the power and magic of books, I've spent my life seeking out the best reads. This blog is dedicated to reviewing the books I read - good, bad, or magnificent - to help other readers find their next favorite books. Currently ReadingKing Zeno
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