Lud-In-The-Mist

Lud-In-The-Mist by Neil Gaiman. paperback edition. ISBN: 9781593600419.

Originally published in 1926, and unavailable in the US for many years now, this was one of the most well-loved fantasy novels of its day. This is the story of Master Nathaniel Chanticleer, a respectable burgher who learns that his young son has eaten forbidden faery fruit. Lud-in-the-Mist, of the title, is a quasi-medieval town, governed by Master Nathaniel Chanticleer. The town is of the very sensible sort, but being bordered on the west by Fairyland and the Debatable Hills, there are problems in the trafficking of illegal fairy fruit, which Nathaniels young son eats. The real story underneath concerns the place of fantasy and the imagination in real life, and in the end there is a fine reconciliation of the two. There are swirling subplots as well, which add layers of mystery to an extraordinarily enchanting tale.This is a trade paperback original in the US.