I wasn’t expecting this little collection to make such an impact on me, but instead it became one of my favourite reading experiences of 2019! It combines eight short stories with anecdotes about Almond’s inspiration behind the stories, and you can really sense how much this man loves books and storytelling, it shines through the pages. The stories vary from a poltergeist terrorising a council estate and a girl who’s more at home in the sea than on land, to discovering what it means to stand up for what you believe in and always choosing to be good and kind.
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The stories are literally set where my grandma still lives, where I grew up, where my nana lived, where we go on holiday, where I played, where I went to school... and the feeling I had reading them was a mix of nostalgia, love, and pride at this little corner of the world being represented in this way. The news about this part of the world can often be bleak: council cuts, crime, poverty, but Almond peels back those layers and finds the magic. Kids playing out until their mams shout them back in for tea, the wild and rugged coastline, the pit villages filled with history, the people with hearts of gold... and he injects a good dollop of actual magic for good measure, until fantasy and reality become indistinguishable. His style is simple yet effective, calling the setting to mind instantly even if you haven’t been there.
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I already knew representation mattered across all nationalities, races, genders and ages but this really hit the point home. Everyone should have the chance to have an experience like this, of seeing their slice of life printed on a page. My rating might be based more on my personal experience with it, but isn’t that the whole point of reading? I hope that if any of you do read it, you can find some of the magic that I did, and see the North East of England in a new light