The Ocean at the End of the Lane, by Neil Gaiman, is a book about memory. Gaiman tells a story of the power in childhood memories, which can change our lives and inform our decisions, and can take us to far reaching destinations and return us home again. These memories help us become who we really are. In The Ocean at the End of the Lane, a young boy (7) who is oddly never named by Gaiman, meets Lettie Hempstock, a strange older-than-her-years girl of 11. She mistakenly introduces him to a new reality where a circle of rhododendrons becomes a fairy ring, otherworldly monsters seek to eat your heart and oceans masquerade as duck ponds. Lettie takes the boy with her to do a chore at the pond, but inadvertently he smuggles a hungry dark creature through this magic ocean gateway into the pond. The story becomes about the battle to send this creature back where she belongs before she hurts the boy. In this surprisingly short but engaging story, Gaiman weaves a tale that is exciting, frightening, sad, and magical. It is a story of the things we almost remember, of creatures glimpsed from the corners of our eyes, and the scary stories our grandmothers told us to keep us safe.
A brilliantly imaginative and poignant fairy tale from the modern master of wonder and terror, The Ocean at the End of the Lane is Neil Gaiman's first new novel for adults since his #1 New York Times bestseller Anansi Boys.This bewitching and harrowing tale of mystery and survival, and memory and magic, makes the impossible all too real...