There is something inherently magical about Neil Gaiman’s writing. Everytime I read anything he writes, he not only captures my imagination, but flags my jealousy, I wish I could craft stories, and make them as enchanting as he does.

Gaiman has a singular talent of writing engaging fairy tales for adults, without talking down to his readers. Yes, his stories often have fantastical elements, but it always seems so real. I love his writing.

I didn’t come to him through his Sandman comics (which I openly admit at still having to read), I came across him first through his novel, Neverwhere, a book that completely blew me away, and prompted me to rush out immediately and find everything else he’d written that I could get my hands on, I’ve also greatly enjoyed his recent work on Doctor Who.

I was delighted when I heard he had a new book coming out in 2013, and was happy to settle in and read it finally.

This was so worth the wait, it’s a simple and beautiful story.

Told in the first person, I was taken in right from the get-go. The unnamed main character returns home for a funeral, and while he is there, he is drawn to the house down the lane where, when he was 7, he had one magical, and frightening summer.

It was at this house, and its surrounding lands that he met the women of the Hempstock family, Old Miss Hempstock, Miss Hempstock, and Lettie Hempstock, the 11 year-old girl he forges a friendship with.

When a boarder commits suicide on Hempstock property, it opens a door for something else to come through, and it finds a way into the protagonist’s home.

It is left to the young boy, and the Hempstocks, who are more than they appear to be to save his family, and perhaps even himself, no matter what the cost may be.

Gaiman has once again masterfully created a story that speaks to the heart and the imagination, hinting at the wonders and magic of the world as seen through the eyes of a young boy. The wonders aren’t always beautiful, sometimes they are downright terrifying, and can try to rend your family apart, but that doesn’t make them anymore magical.

The events culminate to a final showdown, but it is the book’s epilogue that truly touched my heart, and I don’t want to give any of the story away, so I hope you’ll read it, and share your thoughts with me. I just know that as long as Gaiman keeps writing them, I will keep reading them.

His descriptions and creations, continue to fill me with delight. Neil Gaiman is one of the reasons I love to read as much as I do. I feel as if I can crawl inside his books, wrap myself up in them, like they are warm fleecy blankets, and lose myself in the comfort they provide.

Have you read any of Neil Gaiman’s work? I know, I know, I need to read Sandman, I promise to get on that, but let me know what you think of this one please.