The Green Man.

Bedard, Michael.  The Green Man.    Tundra Books      304p  $19.95      978-1-77049-285-1 hs          VG-BN   Fantasy  

In 1987, Bedard published A Darker Magic, the prequel to The Green Man.  In many ways, The Green Man represents a recycling of the original novel’s plot.  However, The Green Man demonstrates Bedard’s growth as a writer, with a more polished approach, more complicated characters, and more engaging prose enhanced with poetry.  It is not necessary to have read the earlier novel to enjoy the new one, but reading both provides an opportunity to compare and contrast, and a chance to see how both heroine’s lives overlap.

Ophelia (who prefers to be called "O") plans to spend the summer with her eccentric Aunt Emily, poet and owner of The Green Man bookstore.  Upon her arrival, it is clear to O that Aunt Emily needs help.  Emily is run down and vague, and the shop is in decline.  O gradually takes over many duties at the bookstore, organizing the stock and revitalizing the displays.  She cooks, encouraging Emily to follow a more sensible, healthy diet and give up smoking.  O ventures out into the English town, meeting some memorable characters and accompanying her aunt to estate sales, where Emily hopes to someday hit pay dirt.

Emily is plagued by bad dreams, ill health, and the fear that something terrible will occur on August 8, the anniversary of a childhood trauma.  She is convinced that O will suffer the same fate as some children who attended a fateful magic show in her youth and then died.  Still, when a local architect’s last relative invites her to bid on a rare collection of magic books, Emily is convinced that this will be The Green Man’s salvation.  But as events unfold, it becomes clear that this opportunity could also be the shop’s undoing.

Bedard weaves poetry and the importance of poetry throughout the plot.  The shop is haunted by the ghosts of old poets.  Emily is an established poet whose shop was once a haven for poets.  O herself is a blossoming poet.  Poetry brings O together with a mysterious young man who is also a poet.  Together, O and Emily resurrect a poets’ support group. 

More attention might have been devoted to descriptions of The Green Man. (The shop could qualify as a character of its own in this novel.)  It would have been interesting to more thoroughly explore O’s poetic growth and know more about Emily’s poetry.  However, the atmospheric, slightly cinematic approach will appeal to many readers.  Fans of magical realism will want to read this book.

Poetry-Fiction, Magic-Fiction                         --Hilary Welliver