This is a remarkable, exuberant tale from a genius writer, full of smart thinking but never letting go of the total joy of language and storytelling. As far as plot goes, a poorly boy meets a mystical healer called Treacle Walker and a reanimated bog body called Thin Amren, moving through the countryside, dreams, and the pages of a comic book. But at the heart of this novella is a kind of mystery, or puzzle, but perhaps not one that the book is interested or able to solve. The roots of folklore and fable mix with contemporary theories of time in a way that is interested in showing you fascinating things and getting you to look at the world anew. If you’ve found yourself in a reading slump this slim book might burst you out of it. I read it in one sitting and wanted to start right over again.

Thank you to the publishers for this review copy, I've heard only fabulous things about it as soon as it was listed on the booker shortlist this year. I'm not sure any review I write will be enough to portray my feelings during and after reading it... I found this certainly unique, definitely quirky, funny and absolutely heartfelt. I would love to see this picked up as a book club choice, I feel this book could certainly produce some fantastic conversations!

A veritable bounty of folklore, philosophy, history and all things Alan Garner. There is so much to unpack and definitely deserves multiple readings. Infinitely better than Lanny by Max Porter (which I didn't like at all), a novel that many will compare this too. However, there just can't be any comparison. Alan Garner is working at a totally different level to many authors. I just love the depth of tone with this, somewhere between existential folklore horror and a children's story, almost feels like reading a Tim Benson movie at times; there's so much fun throughout but there is immense weight to it as well. SO. MUCH. WEIGHT. What a book, hope to see him shortlisted

One of his best. Keeping everyone including the characters and the reader suspended between multilayered intersecting worlds. Full of wisdom in an uncloying way. Recommend reading all of his other books.

I vaguely remember reading Alan Garner at school, and enjoying his work, but I didn’t really have any set expectations of what this book would be like. I definitely did not expect the unsettling, dreamlike, weirdly profound experience that it turned out to be. Treacle Walker is like tripping. That’s absolutely how it felt for me: The weird solo journey, the warped perception of time and space, the intensity of what is suddenly required - right now, or we’ll all probably die, for reasons unfathomable but undeniable - the even more sudden changes of intention, or location, or physical form. There’s a whole philosophical rabbit-hole to dive into with this book, and I’m very much here for exploring all the questions of reality, perception, our connection with the land and the universe(s?), the nature of time, and history, and divinity, that it throws up. But not today. On another day, I will love this book. I fully intend to pick it up again and bask in the strangeness of it all. This is not a light, charming read. Garner will not hold your hand on the paths he leads you down. This book opens a door and it’s up to you to step through, it calls for your active engagement, and some of that might be uncomfortable. Take an afternoon off to read Treacle Walker, but make sure you have a full weekend free to noodle your head around all the questions, and thoughts, and existential crises it will raise in your innocent, unsuspecting mind.