al has struggled to cope with his mother's drinking and her psychotic episodes s
ince he was six; cooped up in their dirty council flat he dreams of a new life.
So when he leaves to live with his uncle Trevor in Chepstow he is ruthless about
breaking with the past, despite his mother's despair. But getting off the train
at the wrong station he finds himself at the castle of the Fisher King, and fro
m then on moves in a nightmare spiral of predetermined descent into a wasteland
of desolation and adventure, always seeking the way back to the Grail he has bet
rayed. Catherine Fisher has created a gripping and highly moving novel that move
s between myth and a contemporary journey of self-knowledge until one becomes in
distinguishable from the other. Drawing in Arthurian themes, historical re-enact
ments and the Four Hallows, Cal's quest for a return to peace of mind is an elab
orate and ambitious Grail novel for our time. An important new work from the aut
hor of the Book of the Crow.
