The Owl Service by Alan Garner; narrated by Wayne Forester | 2008; originally published 1967 | Naxos Audiobooks | Audiobook $ 14.80
Something is scratching around in the attic above Alison’s room. Yet the only thing up there is a stack of grimy old plates. Alison and her stepbrother, Roger, discover that the flowery patterns on the plates, when traced onto paper, can be fitted together to create owls – owls that disappear when no one is watching. With each vanished owl, strange events begin to happen around Alison, Roger, and the caretaker’s son, Gwyn. As the kids uncover the mystery of the owl service, they become trapped within a local legend, playing out roles in a tragic love story that has repeated itself for generations… a love story that has always ended in disaster.
When compiling my list for Classics Club, I wanted to include some ancient-to-medieval mythology and folktales from around the world. The Mabinogion is one such collection of stories, frome Wales. I bring this up because while I was reading a bit more about the Mabinogion, I stumbled across a description of this children’s book that is based on one of those legends, and which is often considered a work of classic kid lit in its own right — The Owl Service.
I enjoyed this book immensely. I avoided spoilers for it before reading so didn’t look at many reviews before starting up the audiobook; however, while looking for other reviews while writing this one, I was surprised to find that it isn’t nearly as popular as I’d have assumed based on my own reaction.
This is a kind of modern fairytale. (Well, mid-20th-century modern, anyway; nobody’s playing video games or talking about cryptocurrency.) Three kids of different backgrounds are thrown together in a remote village in Wales, where they are doomed to repeat a legend that wreaks havoc there every generation.
This was a surprisingly dark book, for what started out like a lighthearted fun little kiddie fantasy story. At first, I thought it would be something like E. Nesbit’s The Enchanted Castle… children on holiday join up for magical adventures, that sort of thing.
In reality, the story included much deeper emotional connections and disconnections; these were both caused by and the cause of the aforementioned repeating mythic love story. The character’s choices and interactions were also clearly driven in part by social class and ethnic tensions, which I think is often glossed over in children’s literature.
I think this is a great choice for readers who appreciate dark myth-based fantasy tales or stories of tragic legends that come to life in modern times.
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Publication information: Garner, Alan. The owl service. London, UK: Naxos Audiobooks, 2008. Audiobook.
Source: Public library, via Libby.
Disclaimer: I am not compensated, monetarily or otherwise, for reviews of books or other products.
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