And out of the Darkwood Mr Toppit comes, and he comes not for you, or for me, but for all of us.

There is a cleverly woven thread of sinister oddness that runs through this family saga, the source, the children’s fantasy series written by the deceased Arthur Hayman, and the effects of these books on his surviving family. The darkly unrealised character of Mr. Toppit lurks on every page, as Luke Hayman, who would rather have been left a less intrusive legacy than being know as ‘Luke Hayseed’, the boy from the stories, narrates his family’s struggle to live down the books as they grow in popularity. The introduction of the American woman, Laurie, who builds her career on the back of her love for the books, is one of those characters who bring an instant warped sadness to any book; Luke’s fragile sister Rachel pales against this large, interesting personality, but has her moment to devastate the reader, all the same.

There are a few interesting – even tongue-in-cheek – parallels between the Hayseed books and A.A.Milne’s immortal tales written for his son, but something fell flat in the telling of Mr. Toppit… although each of the characters are interesting, the dark and amusing nicely balanced, I couldn’t help feeling that early indications of excellence were not quite achieved. Some of my disappointment was caused by the realisation that the darkly fantastic elements of the book were to be confined to the children’s series, but once I had readjusted my understanding of the story, I still thought that there was a good deal too much wasteland between moments of interest.

In short, I liked a lot of it, and won’t write Charles Elton off, but he hasn’t shot to the top of my must-read list, either. ( )

Do you ever read a book and feel like you've missed the point? It's obviously well-written, an enjoyable enough diversion, but you find yourself more wanting to get to the end not to find out what happens as to begin reading the next book on your To Read list. This is especially frustrating when it's a book that both your friends and the critics have raved about. Mr. Toppit is that book for me.

Read the full review at my blog. ( )

Well this was a strange one. Somehow, I expected more from the book within the book side of the plot which never materialised and that for me was disappointing. Particularly as the publisher’s marketing campaign has been busy promoting this imaginary - Hayseed Chronicles - series which lead me to believe Mr Toppit was going to fuse through into reality. Maybe that’s my mistake. The characters were well written albeit unlikeable, other than Luke. Though I did feel there was too much backstory on Laurie and not enough on Luke. Overall, an alright read just not the book I wanted or expected. ( )

Mr Toppit was recently published by Penguin, with the emphasis being on the Mr Toppit of the title.. a marketing push which caught my eye. The book, however, tells the story of an author, his family, and one of his greatest fans.

The author of the story is Arthur Hayman, a screenwriter who writes a series of books which feature his son Luke. These books are collectively known as the Hayseed Chronicles, and if you remove the dustcover of this hardback version, their is an old looking cover depicting this.

However, it’s only after Arthur’s death that these books gain popularity, and the book deals with the effects of this, on Luke, his family, and Laurie.. an American stranger who is with Arthur as he dies.

We see most of the story through the eyes of Luke, caught up in the popularity of the books, even though this isn’t something he welcomes. Luke has a wonderfully dysfunctional family, all dealing with their own issues and histories. I personally wasn’t so keen on the part of the book in which Luke visits Laurie in America, but it is part of the overall tale.

It’s a difficult book to categorise, but it explores family relationships, fame, and dealing with past secrets. The characters are all well written, if not always totally likeable, and I wonder how long it will be before we see Penguin publish the actual Hayseed Chronicles! ;-)