Book review
Written by Neil Gaiman
Bloomsbury hardback
Release Date 20 October 2008

Nobody (or ‘Bod’) Owens lives in a graveyard, and his teachers are the late townspeople, now fellow occupants of this tumbledown cemetery. Eager to protect him from those who killed his family, they teach him the ways of the next world, rather than this one…

Neil Gaiman’s latest offering comes in two gorgeous versions – one illustrated by Dave McKean, the other by Charles Riddell. Starting with the tale of how the man Jack kills Bod’s family and the child’s escape to a tumbledown graveyard that is more than a little reminiscent of the old part of Highgate Cemetery, the author at turns chills, excites, worries, but always enthrals.

Bod, perhaps unsurprisingly, grows up as as a serious, quiet child who is protected by his mentor, Silas, and his ‘parents’ Mr and Mistress Owens, having been handed into their care by his newly-dead mother before she faded from view. Silas is dark, brooding, and carries earth in his extremely large suitcase…

The characters in The Graveyard Book are beautifully drawn, from the enigmatic Silas to the chattering ghouls (who, with no memory of what they were before they became that way, go by names such as the Duke of Westminster and Victor Hugo).

While marketed as a children’s book, readers of any age will be drawn into the tale of Bod and his struggle to survive, as he seeks to make sense of the world around him even as he is sought by those that would kill him. Along the way his protectors offer rare insights into human nature, even when exhibited by those who are ostensibly inhuman. Marie O’Regan

VERDICT: 10/10
An enchanting tale of a small boy brought up by ghosts and assorted mythical creatures, eager to protect him from harm. Not to be missed.

Click here to buy a signed copy of The Graveyard Book at Forbidden Planet (forbiddenplanet.com)