Thursbitch

2003 novel by Alan Garner

1-84343-087-8 (hardback edition)OCLC52622302
Dewey Decimal
823/.914 22LC ClassPR6057.A66 T49 2003

Thursbitch is a novel by English writer Alan Garner, named after the valley in the Pennines of England where the action occurs (also listed in the 1841 OS map as "Thursbatch"). It was published in 2003.

Plot

Set both in the 18th century and the present day, the novel centres on the mystery of an inscription on an extant engraved wayside stone tablet about a death from exposure.

Major themes

The book features shamanic use of the fly agaric mushroom[1] and a piece of Derbyshire Blue John as plot elements.

Literary significance and criticism

The book is seen by critics[who?] of Garner's work as a continuation of styles and structures first used in Red Shift (1973) and Strandloper (1996).

References

  1. ^ Letcher, Andy (2006). Shroom: A Cultural history of the magic mushroom. London: Faber and Faber. p. 129. ISBN 0-571-22770-8.
  • v
  • t
  • e
Alan Garner
Brisingamen trilogy
Other novels
  • Elidor (1965)
  • The Owl Service (1967)
  • Red Shift (1973)
  • Strandloper (1996)
  • Thursbitch (2003)
  • Treacle Walker (2021)
Short story collectionsAdaptations
  • The Owl Service (1969)