The story unfolds in a house at the foot of a hill, where a family has just been murdered. The cold-blooded killer methodically executes the sleeping family, except for one – the toddler, who manages to escape his family’s fate as he crawled out of his crib, up the hill, and into an unlikely refuge: a graveyard.
The book pays tribute to Kipling’s The Jungle Book, where Mowgli is raised by wolves in the jungle. In a similar fashion, The Graveyard Book tells the story of finding love and family in an unexpected place: the toddler, who grows up to be Nobody “Bod” Owens is raised by the graveyard ghosts and the mysterious caretaker Silas.
Bod finds plenty of room to grow within the graveyard, but the soon longs for the the world of flesh and blood. Little does he know that his life is still in danger, as the man who killed his family has been waiting thirteen years to finish the heinous task.
The book is a bit like a slightly more sinister version of Eva Ibbotson’s books, which usually have ghosts in them. I loved the characters in this book: they’re quirky and humorous and endearing. Other than Bod, my favorites are Silas (who reminds me of my favorite HP character Severus Snape) and Miss Lupescu, who turn out to be more than meets the eye.
The highlight of the book for me was the danse macabre, because it perfectly expressed the book’s major theme: the juxtaposition of life and death, and the celebration of both.
Of course, Dave McKean’s two-tone illustrations deserve special mention, underscoring the eerie atmosphere they helped create for the entirety of the novel.
Neil Gaiman announced on The Today Show that a film adaptation is in the works; that should be something to watch out for.
Perhaps I shall read another Gaiman book after all. I do hope this has a sequel.
(images from www.thegraveyardbook.com)
My copy: US trade paperback (harr, the UK edition looks much better)
My rating: 5/5 stars