FIRE AND HEMLOCK

Fire and Hemlock, by Diana Wynne Jones: This is my other favorite novel (I can’t believe I have two—pure chance) retelling the Tam Lin and Thomas the Rhymer legends, so of course I felt compelled to reread it after rereading Tam Lin. I don’t love it as deeply as I love Tam Lin, but it made a huge impression on me as a kid, not only because I like the story but also because it was so dark, complex, and sophisticated that I could never understand why it was shelved in the Juvenile section. I read other Wynne Jones books, but this one seemed like it was in another league. It took on an almost magical quality in my mind. I never knew anyone else who had read it and it went out of print for about 10 years, so I couldn’t even obtain my own copy. I would have started to think I had dreamed the whole thing (this in itself echoes the plot of the book, in which Polly comes to realize she has two sets of memories, one false and one true) if the Dakota County Library hadn’t hung on to the old copy I used to read. Finally, the book was reissued a few years ago and I was able to buy it for myself. It still holds up just as well (even better, in some places) upon adult reading (except for the climactic scene, which still makes as little sense to me as it did back in the day), and I still have a crush on Mr. Lynn.