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The Book of Fallen Trees
A new leaf. An old forest. A strange meeting.
England, 1923.
When Henry Forrester inherits a house in the country, he knows exactly what he wants to do: leave Oxford, write his book, forget about the war. But even at Ferley Court the memories are not so easy to escape – according to the locals there is a deserter living rough in his wood. And although Henry doesn’t believe that, there is something unexpected going on, something that is almost the same shape as the fairy tales he is writing about. And everyone, from friendly Miss Learmont of the National Trust to unsmiling Mr Pryce of the Department of Special Enquiry, wants him to do something about it. Everyone except Robin Talliver, who seems content simply to be an impossibility.
As Henry begins to accept that he has found not just another life but another world, he also understands that it is not as untroubled as Robin would have him believe. He needs to make a choice, and he can’t do that without confronting the questions raised by the war. And even though he will not do it alone, he still knows that in making that choice he risks losing everything that brought him back out of the darkness.
The Book of Fallen Trees is a novel about the stories humans tell themselves to make sense of the world, and about those the elves tell to change theirs.
England, 1923.
When Henry Forrester inherits a house in the country, he knows exactly what he wants to do: leave Oxford, write his book, forget about the war. But even at Ferley Court the memories are not so easy to escape – according to the locals there is a deserter living rough in his wood. And although Henry doesn’t believe that, there is something unexpected going on, something that is almost the same shape as the fairy tales he is writing about. And everyone, from friendly Miss Learmont of the National Trust to unsmiling Mr Pryce of the Department of Special Enquiry, wants him to do something about it. Everyone except Robin Talliver, who seems content simply to be an impossibility.
As Henry begins to accept that he has found not just another life but another world, he also understands that it is not as untroubled as Robin would have him believe. He needs to make a choice, and he can’t do that without confronting the questions raised by the war. And even though he will not do it alone, he still knows that in making that choice he risks losing everything that brought him back out of the darkness.
The Book of Fallen Trees is a novel about the stories humans tell themselves to make sense of the world, and about those the elves tell to change theirs.
291 pages, Kindle Edition
Published March 27, 2025
124 people want to read
About the author
Marcus Attwater
19 books15 followersMarcus Attwater writes mystery, fantasy and historical fiction. He is the owner of Attwater Books, a small publisher and bookseller in the Netherlands. Marcus is a social-media-shy person who believes the best way for authors to interact with readers is to give them stories, not updates. When he is not reading, writing, publishing or selling books (or sometimes when he is) Marcus enjoys listening to French baroque opera, watching Spanish football and looking at Gothic churches.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
March 6, 2025
When Henry Forrester goes to live at Ferley Court after the Great War he finds himself living on the boundary and meets the fairy king’s son. As you would expect in a story about a folklorist, the book is very much rooted in literature and legends, and readers of Attwater’s other books will also find plenty of connections, giving depth to a deceptively simple tale. I loved the interplay between Henry’s world-weariness and Robin’s innocence, and how it made me think about what we expect from stories and our own lives.
March 24, 2025
When the protagonist discovers that his new house is nextdoor to fairyland, the otherworld becomes a way of thinking about what is wrong with his own world, and especially his experiences in the first world war. The fantasy world is not overwhelmingly strange, it’s more like historical fiction with elves, and there are no great adventures, just a nuanced exploration of differences, which I liked. It is a story about loss, but a hopeful one, and the ending is just right.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews