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When Cora and her younger sister, Mimi, are sent to stay with their great Auntie Ida in an isolated village in 1958, they discover that they are in danger from a centuries-old evil and, along with village boys Roger and Peter, strive to uncover the horrifying truth before it is too late.
This is the best dark fiction I have read so far this year.
While I was reading it, I compared it to the Stephen King novel, It, as both books had a very similar theme. I thought that this book was better.
Why? Because it was strictly British with no boomercentric pop culture references; even though these two novels are set in the same time period. Also, we don't delve into the details of the characters lives and learn a lot of personal things that have nothing to do with the story.
The monster is better. I really loved the Beowulf reference during the final battle with Long Lankin.
I am just a sucker for a novel with a moldering old manor house, a Domesday Book family with a curse and an ancient monster out of legend. You just can't get much better than that.
I would recommend this book to anyone who loves a traditional, creepy ghost story.
Pet Lover's Advisory: SPOILER! A good dog dies a brave death in this story. The death is not a gratuitous manipulation of the reader's emotions, but integral to the story. Not bloody, gory, disgusting, but he does die......so be warned! ( )
Way too slow paced for my taste. Much of the dialogue is completely unnecessary and irrelevant to the plot. I really, really wanted to like this story because books based on legends are intriguing to me and contain that creepy goodness, but it just didn't do anything for me. :( ( )
Said my lord to my lady, as he mounted his horse:/ "Beware of Long Lankin that lives in the moss."/
Said my lord to my lady, as he rode away:/ "Beware of Long Lankin that lives in the hay."/
"Let the doors be all bolted and the windows all pinned,/ And leave not a hole for a mouse to creep in."/
The doors were all bolted and the windows all pinned,/ Except one little window where Long Lankin crept in./
"Where's the lord of this house?" Said Long Lankin, /"He's away in fair London." said the false nurse to him./ "Where's the heir of this house ?" said Long Lankin. "He's asleep in his cradle," said the false nurse to him./
"We'll prick him, we'll prick him all over with a pin,/ And that'll make my lady to come down to him.'/
So he pricked him, he pricked him all over with a pin,/ And the nurse held the basin for the blood to flow in./
"The nurse how she slumbers, the nurse how she sleeps./ My little son John how he cries and he weeps."/
"How durst I go down in the dead of the night/ Where there's no fire a-kindled and no candle alight ?"/
"You have three silver mantles as bright as the sun./ Come down, my fair lady, all by light of one."/
My lady came down then, all fearful of harm./ Long Lankin stood ready, she fell in his arm./
Here's blood in the kitchen. Here's blood in the hall./ Here's blood on the stairs where my lady did fall./
"O master, O master, don't lay the blame on me./ 'Twas the false nurse and Lankin that killed your lady."/
Long Lankin was hung on a gibbet so high/ And the false nurse was burnt in a fire close by.
Dedication
For Richard, Eleanor, Imogen, Christian, Rowena, and Benjamin, and the other Richard
First words
There's too much sky, and the farther out of London we go, the more of it there is.
Quotations
Last words
I kneel beside her, gently brush the petals aside, and read the inscription: THE TIME OF THE SINGING OF BIRDS HAS COME.
When Cora and her younger sister, Mimi, are sent to stay with their great Auntie Ida in an isolated village in 1958, they discover that they are in danger from a centuries-old evil and, along with village boys Roger and Peter, strive to uncover the horrifying truth before it is too late.
▾Library descriptions
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▾LibraryThing members' description
Book description
"They can't stay here. They mustn't stay here."
When Cora and her little sister Mimi are sent to stay with their great-aunt in the isolated village of Bryers Guerdon, they receive a less than warm welcome, and are desperate to go back to London. But Auntie Ida's life was devastated the last time two young girls were at Guerdon Hall, and now the arrival of her nieces has reawoken an evil that has lain waiting for years.
A haunting voice in an empty room... A strange, scarred man lurking in the graveyard... Mysterious words, scrawled on the walls of the abandoned church... Along with Roger and Peter, two young village boys, Cora must uncover the horrifying truth that has held Bryers Guerdon in its dark grip for centuries — before it is too late for Mimi.
A compelling, atmospheric novel inspired by a haunting folk song about murder, witchcraft and revenge, Long Lankin is a truly stunning debut from an exciting new writer.
Said my lord to my lady, as he mounted his horse: "Beware of Long Lankin that lives in the moss."
Said my lord to my lady, as he rode away: "Beware of Long Lankin that lives in the hay."
"Let the doors be all bolted and the windows all pinned, And leave not a hole for a mouse to creep in."
The doors were all bolted and the windows all pinned, Except one little window where Long Lankin crept in.
While I was reading it, I compared it to the Stephen King novel, It, as both books had a very similar theme. I thought that this book was better.
Why? Because it was strictly British with no boomercentric pop culture references; even though these two novels are set in the same time period. Also, we don't delve into the details of the characters lives and learn a lot of personal things that have nothing to do with the story.
The monster is better. I really loved the Beowulf reference during the final battle with Long Lankin.
I am just a sucker for a novel with a moldering old manor house, a Domesday Book family with a curse and an ancient monster out of legend. You just can't get much better than that.
I would recommend this book to anyone who loves a traditional, creepy ghost story.
Pet Lover's Advisory: SPOILER!
A good dog dies a brave death in this story. The death is not a gratuitous manipulation of the reader's emotions, but integral to the story. Not bloody, gory, disgusting, but he does die......so be warned! ( )