Jan Mark (1943–2006)

In 2255 a gale rips through a beach and exposes the ancient boglands below, and embedded in the bog is a body. A team of archaeologists excavate the body, but it is on the edge of land beloning to the Inglish, an Aboriginal community living an archaic and forgotten way of life. The removal of the body will set off a chain of events that threatens not only the existence of the science of archaeology, but the ongoing tolerance of Aboriginal communities all across Europe. But the skeleton also show more conceals a secret that might be their salvation.

Useful Idiots is an extraordinarily sophisticated, subtle and adult Young Adult novel - a literary dystopian/utopian science fiction thriller that explores ideas of national identites and the costs of keeping them and the price of losing them. The protagonists is a largely ignored and apparently forgotten graduate assistant whose involvement with the Inglish prompts him to make an extraordinary sacrifice, but old resentments and prejudices may be impossible to overcome.

Written superbly, with fantastically contrasted settings between the sterile shelter of the city and the deadly lush maze of the fens. A timely novel - it will resonate chillingly with the current state of climate change and post-Brexit politics and rising nationalism. A brilliant, gripping read. show less

My favorite story was Lucy Lane Clifford's "The New Mother," featuring two sisters named Turkey and Blue-Eyes, a promised vision of a tiny merry dancing couple that will tumble out of an instrument called a pear-drum (manic laughing couple a la Mulholland Drive), and the new mother of the title, who has a wooden tail and glass eyes. Latter two items are rewards for being naughty. Scared the shit out of me!

I don't know quite what to say about this book. I read it once as a child and it stayed with me ever afterwards, a vague recollection of a story in which a cat comes out of the oven and has two bumps on its skull where horns would be on a devil, and it likes to sleep on the hot air vent in the church. No one else remembered the book. Had I somehow made it up? No! Here it is. After much online research, I eventually tracked it down. The story is about a devil who comes out of an oven and is show more raised as a cat, until is indistinguishable from other cats (apart from the bumps). But I must admit that I am not bowled over by the illustrations, which at least once seem to contradict the text (the devil is supposed to grow fur later on, but is always drawn as being furry) and while the text is fine (though lacks any emotional depth), it is a rather strange story for children. I suppose it is supposed to be like a fairy tale. And I presume it was inspired by someone actually saying 'Don't open the oven door or the devils will get out'. This seems to be a thing to say to stop someone opening the oven and spoiling the rising of the bread. However, it doesn't seem a good idea to me to get children wanting to play with a hot oven because kittens come out of it, and the fact that the grandmother repeatedly says she wants to put the devil back in the oven (despite the little girl saying this would be cruel), seems to be dangerously connecting dots between cats and ovens that otherwise would not be in a child's head. I'm probably overreacting, I certainly never wanted to put my kittens in the oven after reading this, but it makes me uneasy. Also, the cat does eventually die of old age in this, and the town is overrun with generations of kittens because no one neuters their pets, so those are weird choices too. I guess it is its weirdness that left it indelibly in my memory. show less

I first read this as a child, but it's one of those books which stays with you. I've bought replacement copies at least twice. In the title story, the best of the bunch, a young child who has been sheltered by his mother from all fear (and therefore has nothing to be afraid of) is taken for a walk in the park by his older cousin. She makes up such a torrent of horror stories for him on the way that he has nightmares for weeks, but he can't wait to get back to the park on his next visit. It show more has much to say about our minds' need for dark places.

Of the other stories, I particularly like "The Choice is Yours" (about a pupil trapped between two warring teachers, with an ending sad on one level yet full of hope on another), "Nule" (about sibling rivalry in the face of nightmare), and "William's Version" (about how toddlers perceive narrative). All the stories are worth a read. show less