Advent: A NovelJames Treadwell
Atria/Emily Bestler Books, July 2012
ISBN: 978-1451661644
A drowning, a magician’s curse, and a centuries-old secret.
In 1537, Johan Faust, the most powerful magician of his age, seeks immortality. Humanity has scorned magic in favour of science and religion, and Faust believes that, to save the world from this error, he cannot die. He leaves behind a mysterious woman he once loved, a woman who gave him a ring that contains all the magic in the world.
In the present day, 15-year-old Gavin Stokes takes a train from London to stay with his aunt in the countryside. He was suspended from school after telling his guidance counsellor what his parents are sick of hearing--that he sees things no one else does, like the ghostly woman he calls Miss Grey, who has been appearing to him throughout his life. Gavin used to find Miss Grey’s presence comforting, but his mother and domineering father insist that such things are impossible, implying that he’s either stupid, lying or insane.
Gavin's aunt Gwen has always been more understanding, but when he arrives at her cottage on the ancient Pendurra estate, he cannot find her, or any evidence of where she may have gone. While trying to track her down, he finds that Pendurra is a mysterious place both liberating and terrifying. Gavin meets other people who have experienced magic, making it seem as if he has been simply been living in the wrong place, with the wrong people. But Pendurra is also a place where magic is leaking back into the world after being trapped for centuries, and something cruel and dangerous is coming with it.
Advent is rich with old, wild magic that infuses a classic coming-of-age story entwined with mythology. The writing is wonderful and the settings include an English forest in winter and an ancient mansion that looks like it hasn’t aged in centuries. The characters are mysterious and varied, and many seem to carry the depth and weight of personal histories that would make good stories on their own. I highly recommend Advent--the first in a fantastic new trilogy--by James Treadwell!
JAMES TREADWELL was lecturer and junior research fellow at the University of Oxford, and assistant professor of English at McGill University. He is the author of Autobiographical Writing and British Literature, 1783–1834 and Interpreting Wagner. He lives in London, England.
ISBN: 978-1451661644; ISBN10: 1451661649; Imprint: Atria/Emily Bestler Books; On Sale: 7/3/2012; Format: Hardcover; Pages: 464; $26.00
