"The Folly on the Hill" by Richard Hayden

 Ellie moves from London to a house in the country at Mow Cop. On the hill near her house is a strange-shaped Folly. As she settles down in a new school, making new friends, she is recruited by the 'Council', a mysterious group of villagers who talk about keys and a lock and the need to protect the world from strange forces.

The pacing of the plot was perfectly in line with the four-part model of narrative with major turning points at the 25%, 50% and 75% marks.

A novel dealing with strange happenings needs to ground itself in normality in order to add verisimilitude. This novel does this by juxtaposing Ellie's everyday life with the weird members of the Council and the subsequent dreams and peculiar weather. A particular strength of this part of the narrative was the way in which Ellie and her family mocked the members of the Council behind their back. One of my favourite lines was "Can we talk about something other than the crazy guy telling me I need to save the world? I have enough trouble with maths homework never mind that as well.” (C 11). The difficulty is that then 'normal' characters have to be able to make the transition from the normal world to the other world; in character terms they have to transition from robust scepticism to open-mouthed gullibility. The weirdness has to be so impressive that the reader has to become sufficiently convinced that they are prepared to suspend their disbelief. I felt this wasn't quite achieved.

The text is written, mostly, in long sentences; this gave a feel of fluency. But sometimes the sentences are fragmented and jumbled up. For example:  "Covered in shadow of the trees but with a clear pale face, it is always hard to tell in photos, but Ellie was sure that the figure was staring at the group." (C 3). Each clause appears to have a separate structure. It is an interesting attempt to mimic consciousness, combining the reality of a muddle of competing thoughts with the appearance of a flowing stream.

Selected quotes

• "The sun always set with a grim finish to the day at this time of year, winter. As if it too could not wait for the longer summer days to arrive." (C 1)
• "She caught a glimpse of the folly on the hill, set against a dark grey sky. The sort of grey that seemed to suck the colour and life out of the world as if it was pure darkness." (C 10)
• "It’s as though the sky opens up above that hill and weather just falls through the gap.” (C 10)
• “'What kind of storm can crack stone?' she asked. Nobody said a word." (C 10)
• "clouds of purple smoke, thick and wispy that moved as she looked at them. The same way steam moves above a freshly brewed cup of tea." (C 11)
• "The air in the room seemed to solidify, as if that moment in time was locked forever." (C 14)
• "Ellie smiled, or at least she thought she did. It was not clear to her if she still had a face at this point." (C 18)

I look forward to reading the sequel.

This review was written by the author of Motherdarling  and The Kids of God