) First edition cover | |
| Author | Alan Garner |
|---|---|
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Fantasy novel |
| Publisher | The Harvill Press |
Publication date | October 2003 |
| Media type | Print (Hardback & Paperback) |
| Pages | 160 p. (hardback edition) |
| ISBN | 1-84343-087-8 (hardback edition) |
| OCLC | 52622302 |
| 823/.914 22 | |
| LC Class | PR6057.A66 T49 2003 |
Thursbitch is a novel by English writer Alan Garner, named after the valley in the Pennines of England where the action occurs (also listed in the 1841 OS map as "Thursbatch"). It was published in 2003.
Plot
Set both in the 18th century and the present day, the novel centres on the mystery of an inscription on an extant engraved wayside stone tablet about a death from exposure.
Major themes
The book features shamanic use of the fly agaric mushroom[1] and a piece of Derbyshire Blue John as plot elements.
Literary significance and criticism
The book is seen by critics of Garner's work as a continuation of styles and structures first used in Red Shift (1973) and Strandloper (1996).
- ^ Letcher, Andy (2006). Shroom: A Cultural history of the magic mushroom. London: Faber and Faber. p. 129. ISBN 0-571-22770-8.