Tamsin by Peter S. Beagle

Yes, that Peter S. Beagle. The one who wrote the amazing, sometimes-chilling-sometimes-inspiring The Last Unicorn. Apparently he wrote other great books as well, and Tamsin is supposed to be one of them. I say "supposed to be" because I was disappointed to find that getting through this book was like wading through molasses--at least when compared to The Last Unicorn. 

The plot is wonderful--especially for a late 90s paranormal historical mystery novel. Jenny, an American teenager, was transplanted to Dorset in England and is now recounting the tale (a few years later) of her adjustment to a world filled with brownies and ghosts. She developed a special bond with resident ghost Tamsin, who had a love triangle going on back in the day, and feels that experience transformed her into the Jenny she is today--hence the book. I won't give away much more than that--honestly, that's two thirds of the book already.

And therein lies the problem. You have to trudge through so much to get to the meaty good stuff…The narrative is written as a reflection on the events rather than a play-by-play of the events themselves, so it feels like every action has a preface, description and commentary. I find it to be a little excessive.

"Jenny, have you known it ever, that zone between aware and asleep when dreams float through you--or you through them--as though you and they were of the same substance? Beyond control, beyond words to name them, yet there's an exchange, a penetration, for all one knows them to be baseless phantoms…And is what I see truly what is? or are these visions of what has been? what might be? I can never tell."

Tamsin is an intriguing creation, but Jenny is so annoying! Self-centered young adults don't want to read about self-centered teenagers actually being knowingly self-centered  We aren't far enough out of adolescence to enjoy that sort of thing yet. And honestly, who wants to read a whole book from the point of view of a whiney teen?

The last couple of chapters are amazing, but I expected nothing less.

Anyway, this was a classic worth having been read once (like The Lord of the Rings), but I doubt I'll ever read it again.

~7/10~