Short run book leads to a whole lot of other short.

A young musician who specialises in an obscure instrument finds a book of her grandfather's. Being a de Lint novel, this draws the young woman into a magical world as she reads the story of another young woman contained therein, and as she does so uncovers a problem to solve, and some people to help out.

Definitely one of his better books that I have read.

http://notfreesf.blogspot.com/2007/12... ( )

This book has in it both standing stones and a book that tells a different story to each reader (and, it is suggested, upon each reading). I'm terribly susceptible to such archetypal images. Loved the book. ( )

De Lint tells a tale of the Cornish coast. The characters are well drawn. I did not like this as well as his others but, I am also more used to his urban fantasy. ( )

PW Reviews 1990 December #1 (Cahners)
A book that could provide its possessor with ultimate power; a Cornish family that has kept the volume hidden for decades; a secret society out to obtain it at any cost; a psychopathic killer; two or possibly three alternate worlds; and a love story are the plot strands of this pleasant but not very engrossing fantasy by the author of Angel of Darkness . After folk singer Janie Little finds the only copy of a novel titled The Little Country by celebrated writer William Dunthorn, an old friend of her grandfather's, extraordinary events begin to occur. Strangers seek to buy or steal Dunthorn's papers and peculiar accidents befall Janie's friends. Wealthy and powerful John Madden, head of the sinister Order of the Grey Dove, employs a killer to acquire a talisman, somehow related to Dunthorn, that Madden is convinced will augment his magical powers. Meanwhile, the tale in the secret novel is unveiled; it deals with the lost music that underlies all magic. While de Lint's rendering of the small Cornish town of Mousehole and the life of a folk musician rings true, the novel lacks the hypnotic mix of horror and beauty necessary to lure the reader into this particular fantasy world. (Feb.) Copyright 1990 Cahners Business Information. ( )