''Thursbitch'' is a novel by English writer

Alan Garner Alan Garner (born 17 October 1934) is an English novelist best known for his children's fantasy novels and his retellings of traditional British folk tales. Much of his work is rooted in the landscape, history and folklore of his native count ...

, named after the valley in the

Pennines The Pennines (), also known as the Pennine Chain or Pennine Hills, are a range of uplands running between three regions of Northern England: North West England on the west, North East England and Yorkshire and the Humber on the east. Commo ...

of England where the action occurs (also listed in the 1841 OS map as "Thursbatch"). It was published in 2003.

Plot

Set both in the 18th century and the present day, the novel centres on the mystery of an inscription on an extant engraved wayside stone tablet about a death from exposure.

Major themes

The book features shamanic use of the

fly agaric ''Amanita muscaria'', commonly known as the fly agaric or fly amanita, is a basidiomycete of the genus ''Amanita''. It is also a muscimol mushroom. Native throughout the temperate and boreal regions of the Northern Hemisphere, ''Amanita muscar ...

mushroom and a piece of Derbyshire Blue John as plot elements.

Literary significance and criticism

The book is seen by critics of Garner's work as a continuation of styles and structures first used in '' Red Shift'' (1973) and '' Strandloper'' (1996).

References

{{Alan Garner 2003 British novels 2003 fantasy novels Novels by Alan Garner Novels set in Cheshire Blue John (mineral) Harvill Secker books