The Ocean at the End of the Lane

The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman

A coming-of-age story like you've never read before, The Ocean at the End of the Lane starts with a man sitting by a pond looking back at his childhood. The more he remembers, the more unexpected, magical, and terrifying the book becomes. When the man (who is unnamed throughout the novel) was seven, he met a unique and remarkable girl who showed him a world he never thought possible. They spend hours at her house and by her "ocean" (the pond in the backyard.) While the boys eyes are opened to this strange world to which his new friend Lettie belongs, he also becomes the target of an attack. He soon realizes that there is a darkness unleashed on his life and it is out to destroy him.

Gaiman is a master of the creepy, and succeeds just as well with it in this book as he has in others. It catches the reader off guard because it starts off so innocently, leading you to believe it's a nostalgic middle-aged man remembering his childhood. All of a sudden, you get a glimpse of the supernatural, and the rest of the story is a wild ride from start to finish.

The friendship between the two children is quirky and unpredictable, and the antagonist can really get under your skin.  This is an edge-of-your-seat kind of read that is not easily set down. But it also tells a beautiful story of a boy growing up. Lettie teaches the boy many lessons on life and the people around him, "Nobody looks like what they really are on the inside. You don’t. I don’t. People are much more complicated than that. It’s true of everybody."You get a wonderful juxtaposition between the friendship of these two children, and the terror that is the antagonist threatening the boy and his family. The novel is so well written that I was constantly surprised at what was happening, and still like to think about what might have happened next. 

Find The Ocean at the End of the Lane in out Adult Fiction section!