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52 of 54 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Beautiful and haunting, February 10, 2003
I had to give this book five stars, even though it isn't perfect. The plot is confusing at times, with holes that could have been filled in if the author had done some tweaking. Another drawback is that some of the best characters--like the quartet--tend to be given short shrift. Yet even with these drawbacks, a fantasy of this calibre is not likely to come along often enough so as to be taken for granted. Hence the five stars. As I mentioned above, there are plot holes, but this is a side effect of the chief beauty of this book: its mystery. The story is set in our world--1980's England, to be exact--and the fantasy elements are laid on in subtle nuances of depth and detail. A slight otherworldly quality--almost too subtle to be detected--mars an otherwise commonplace funeral. Everyday events take on the significance of revelations. The magic itself is of the type that more often than not creeps at the edges of things, pervading the story with an atmosphere that is by turns haunting, fascinating, and occasionally hilarious. With a deft hand the author weaves the ballad of Tam Lin and Thomas the Rhymer together with the story a young girl, and soon enough the magic of legend and her mundane life intertwine. Polly is a "hero" in more than one sense: not only by virtue of her role as it is projected in the ballad, but also due to her struggles to cope with an increasingly unbearable living situation. It is not only the darkness of evil magic that Polly must eventually face, but also its everyday counterpart: the divorce and callous negligence of her parents. The cast of characters and their relationships are wonderful, down to every last individual; it is their believability and richness that makes this book impossible to put down. There is also a refreshing realism in their interactions that plays a necessary counterpoint to the otherwise murky strangeness of the atmosphere. Children grow to adulthood as we watch them, their friendships and alliances change; the relationship between Polly and Tom Lynn grows ever more complex, undergoing constant shifts and adjustments. You will find this book in the Young Adult section, but most readers of fantasy know that this is no reason to be put off. Diana Wynne Jones is one of the best YA fantasy writers around, and this is one of her darkest, deepest, and most complex books. You may need to reread it to fully understand what has happened by the somewhat bewildering conclusion--but if you enjoy it the first time, that should not be a chore, but a pleasure.
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23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Tam Lin, or Tom Lynn?, May 8, 2002
"Fire and Hemlock" is one of the newly reprinted books by Diana Wynne-Jones, and definitely worth a read. This is one of those books that so easily could have turned into cheeze, or a mediocre modern-fantasy tale devoid of magic. Instead, virtually every word and event is permeated with subtlely fantastical elements. The tale starts when nineteen-year-old Polly, looking at a "fire and hemlock" picture, suddenly remembers her old friend Thomas Lynn -- the problem is, how could she have forgotten him? And why doesn't anybody else remember him? Shifting back in time, we are shown how the preadolescent Polly wandered into a funeral, and met the quiet, mild-mannered Lynn there. He remains a presence, through letters and occasional meetings, all throughout her teenage years. The two play a fantasy game through their letters -- but then Polly starts seeing it reflected in reality. To make things worse, Lynn's strangely sinister ex-wife seems to have a strange power over him. But what it is? Who is she? And how can Polly free Lynn before it's too late? This is, in places, not an easy book to read; not everyone in it has a happy ending, and Polly's life is in some ways not a happy one. We see her seesawing between her paranoid mother, who believes that everyone is trying to keep secrets from her (almost to the point of mental illness); her father, who seems absorbed in his stepfamily; and her kindly grandmother who is one of the few stable points in her life. Jones never downplays the real pains of adolescence; there is no cheap "teen angst" here. Rather, we have Polly growing and maturing, recognizing the harsher parts of reality. One of the most striking parts of the book is when we are shown how shallow and pathetic one of Polly's former friends is, someone who previously seemed bright and vivacious. Her embarrassment when coming to her father's, her shock when her mother ships her out, and her intermittent feelings of loneliness and playfulness are all well-drawn and excellently written. With a minimum of effort, Jones provides good "atmosphere" for the supporting characters as well, especially Lynn. He's actually present in relatively little of the novel, but his presence permeates it. The grandmother is nice, as are the friends -- both past and present -- of Polly's; they range from being shallow and petty to quieter, but more loyal. This book is not as humorous as some of her other novels, though there is a sly jab at Tolkien imitators in one of the letters from Lynn. There is also some slightly more mature material, in a VERY mild joke by a slutty classmate, and the reference to a friend of Polly's briefly running off with a businessman. That, and the no-happily-ever-after vision of divorce. Why four stars? Well, because I simply could not understand how things happened at the climax. I reread those last chapters six times, and was no closer at the end to understanding what the heck happened there. It is, however, outstandingly written. The descriptions are lush and full of magic. Fans of multilayered fantasy, "Tam Lin", and a solid coming-of-age story will want to check this out.
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21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
"But Aye She Grips and Holds Him Fast...", January 6, 2005
"Fire and Hemlock" is possibly Diana Wynne Jones's most complex and subtle novel, and it's certainly not for the younger readers who've enjoyed her most famous work, the "Chrestomanci" novels. It is most basically described as a retelling of the Tam Lin/Thomas the Rhymer ballads, set in 1980's England over a nine-year period. Needless to say, it is dense and complicated, filled with hidden meaning, metaphor and symbolism where two threads of life are wound together to make an intricate whole.
Told predominantly in flashback sequences, we begin when nineteen-year-old Polly Whittacker is packing to go to college when her memory begins to stir. Her recollections of a book and a picture on the wall are not as she remembers them, and only when she concentrates and really begins to think does she realise that she seems to have two sets of memories - one of a mundane school life, and one that is filled with the mysterious and supernatural: all centred around a man named Tom Lynn.
She begins to re-follow this thread of her life, beginning with her meeting with Tom Lynn when she accidentally joins a funeral at the grand Hunsdon House held by the strange Leroy family. Pursuing the strange friendship, Polly and Tom make up stories where they exist as superheroes named Tom Piper and Hero and meet many times to discuss this sense of reality they dub `Nowhere'. But something strange begins to happen - these stories of theirs have a way of becoming true, and it all seems to have something to do with Tom's sinister ex-wife Laurel and her designs for Tom and Polly.
Throughout this however, Polly also must deal with the somewhat crazy exploits of her school-friend Nina and the selfish actions of her divorcee parents: the negligence of her father and the utter self-delusion of her mother who blames everybody but herself for her problems. Also is the attentions of two young boys - the sulky Sebastian and the roughish Leslie, both of which have links to the Leroy family and their grim family heritage.
To get the most out of "Fire and Hemlock" you must be a patient and careful reader - I'd even go so far as to say it's necessary to read the book twice to fully understand it. There are so many details and plot threads that it's difficult to keep track of them all, especially when you consider all the action is melded with a different set of memories that Polly must sort out in her mind as the book goes on (not counting the range of stories that she and Tom make up!).
The characters are as usual wonderfully and vividly created and interact realistically with each other. Polly's grandmother in particular is a woman worth knowing, but the flamboyant Nina, the sullen Sebastian and the sad, haunted Tom are also beautifully presented. However, the one character I couldn't really warm up to was Polly herself - for reasons more instinctive than reasonable, I just couldn't really like her that much, and I'm afraid I'm not really sure why.
"Fire and Hemlock" is also the author's most descriptive book - usually she doesn't bother to much with details, but in this case she takes the time to carefully lay the setting, resulting in an evocative and interesting atmosphere whether it be the spookiness of Hunsdon House or the sterile cleanness of Polly's father's apartment.
The main problem with this book is that it is incredibly complicated: even after three reads I'm still a little baffled as to how and why certain things happened - the last chapter in particular is very ambiguous and unsatisfactory in its wrap up concerning Polly and her relationships with the other characters. Although she does explain certain mysteries, they are usual explained in just a few sentences which are easy to miss or not understand properly. This is rather frustrating since it's a beautiful novel which deserves to be savoured and understood - yet it's extremely difficult to do just this thanks to the lack of cohesiveness.
As a sidenote, this novel along with "Howl's Moving Castle" are Diana Wynne Jones's favourite works - with that in mind it pays to read it carefully. All in all, it is one of DWJ's most challenging books, but ultimately one of the most intelligent, intriguing and rewarding.
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