Lanny

When I started reading Max Porter’s Lanny I knew that it was nothing like anything that I’d ever read before. It starts with a god assembling himself out of the forest’s bits and pieces, and only grows more fantastic from there. The titular character, Lanny, is a strange, talented boy who is adored by the adults in his life. One of these “adults” is Dead Papa Toothwort, a powerful, ever-adapting earth spirit whose actions will have a tremendous impact on Lanny’s fate. Their story is based around magic, be it the ancient kind that reshapes reality or the ordinary kind that makes domestic life worth living. Max Porter uses a chorus of fascinating voices to explore the the wonders and horrors that can appear a rural English community. Like Papa Toothwort himself, Lanny is built of countless strange bits and pieces to create a beautiful, terrifying whole.