Everlasting Lane - Softcover

Lovett, Andrew

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0957185332 ISBN 13: 9780957185333

Publisher: Galley Beggar Press, 2013

Synopsis

A captivating, absorbing, and suspenseful evocation of the spells of childhood.

In a timeless coming-of-age tale as charming and haunting as the movie Stand By Me, Andrew Lovett’s Everlasting Lane tells the story of what happens when nine-year-old Peter’s father dies and his mother moves them from the city to a house in the countryside, for what seem to Peter to be mysterious reasons.

He’s soon distracted, though, by the difficulties of being the new, shy kid at school, and he befriends the other two kids who seem to be outcasts: overweight Tommie and too-smart-for-her-own-good Anna-Marie. Together they try to weather the storm of bullying teachers and fellow students, by escaping into explorations of the seemingly bucolic countryside.

There, though, they find other outcasts from society such as cranky Mr. Merridew, who won’t leave his cottage in the woods, and Scarecrow Man, who stands in the fields searching the skies. And meanwhile, Peter is disturbed by the growing awareness that his own mother may be some sort of outcast, too—and that she’s hiding something from him in a locked room in the attic, a room she’s expressly forbidden him from entering.

Written in beautiful prose, Everlasting Lane is a captivating, absorbing, and suspenseful evocation of the spells of childhood: sun-soaked, nostalgic, with the soft focus and warm glow of a Polaroid—but it’s darker than it seems. Will Peter and his mother find the light in that darkness?

About this title

About the Author:

ANDREW LOVETT lives near York, England, with his family. Everlasting Lane is his first novel, based, in part, on his own childhood.

Review:

Praise for Everlasting Lane

A Boston Globe Pick of the Week

“Captures the dreaminess of childhood, and the small details that make it nightmarish as well... An ode to the last days of true child-ness and all their complications, frustrations, urges, and pains. There is beauty there, too, but as Lovett tells us—and he breaks it to us so gently—we only see that when our innocence is over."
—Cleaver Magazine

“Everlasting Lane is an excellent reminder of how smart and intuitive children can be."
—PopMatters

“Everlasting Lane is darkness and light at its best... This gentle haunting, evocative tale will appeal to any who want a different approach to the traditional coming-of-age theme."
—Midwest Book Review

“An unusual, childlike journey salted with moments of stark truth... draw[s] the reader quietly into the heart of a novel where both light and darkness abide--inside a stunning revelation."
—Curled Up with a Good Book

“If you are looking for a coming-of-age story with some shadowy twists and turns, I recommend Everlasting Lane."
—Read.Write.Repeat

“Charming and captivating."
—Riffle

ABA IndieNext Pick For January 2015

“Beautifully written, and as charming as it is dark, the novel unwraps the endless secrets that elude a child."
—Kirkus Reviews, starred review

“Sophisticated and evocative."
—Library Journal

One of Library Journal's 25 Key Indie Fiction Books, Fall 2014-Winter 2015

“Engrossing... Familial melodrama and confusion are resolved and explained as Lovett’s creative tale broadens into an exploratory, discovery-filled journey for three zany outcasts—'a fluttering rabble of butterflies,' each taking in the world one revelation at a time."
—Publishers Weekly

“With nods to such children’s classics as Alice in Wonderland, Lovett’s first novel...contemplates the often very fine line between imagination and reality."
—Booklist

About this edition

• Publisher: Galley Beggar Press
• Publication date: 2013
• ISBN 10: 0957185332
• ISBN 13: 9780957185333
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 300