UNDER THE PENDULUM SUN

released OUT NOW! 400 pages | Paperback/ebook

Author Jeannette Ng Publisher angry robot

Capturing both the beauty and weirdness of fairies is a tricky balancing act, but Jeannette Ng manages it in this tale of Catherine Helstone, who travels to Arcadia (fairyland) in search of her missionary brother Laon.

The peculiar blend of living creature and landscape – the moon a giant anglerfish; whales made of earth with the sea inside them; clouds that are ships – is both unsettling and lovely, as is the owlishly imposing Queen Mab herself. These are Victorian painter Richard Dadd’s fairies, not the twinkly, twee, pretty ones of 21st century children’s books. Ng’s tale is as much a gothic horror as it is a fantasy, as Catherine browses through diaries and letters in order to learn what happened to her brother’s predecessor, and to understand the nature of the land and its inhabitants.

The story isn’t perfect, however; while Catherine is beautifully drawn, and you’ll enjoy sharing her explorations, she’s not entirely convincing as a Victorian woman with strong religious convictions, and it’s likely that you will spot one particular part of Mab’s machinations long before Laon and Catherine do.

Nonetheless, it’s a magical and moving story, and one that will linger in your mind long after the siblings realise what Arcadia really is. Miriam McDonald