Book Review: Treacle Walker by Alan Garner

My Rating:⭐⭐⭐

Shortlisted for the 2022 Booker Prize

Treacle Walker is the first Alan Garner book I have ever picked up. Needless to say, the book being on the Booker shortlist prompted me to give it a try.

The story revolves around a young boy Joseph “Joe” Coppock, who has been unwell and wears a patch on one eye for rectification of his lazy eye. One day he meets a rag-and-bone man by the name of Treacle Walker who also claims to be a healer of all ills save for jealousy. Joe acquires a “donkey stone” and an old chipped pot of ointment called “Poor Man’s Friend” in exchange for an old pair of his pyjamas and a lamb’s shoulder blade. These two mystical objects and his acquaintance with Treacle Walker are just the beginning of a series of fantastical adventures for Joe- from meeting Thin Amren, a bog-man who tells him that his trouble with his eyes is “glamourie” wherein each of his eyes shows him different worlds- one that everyone can see and the other that is not visible to others to characters who jump out of the pages of his favorite comic book, a mirror dimension and much more.

To be honest, I read and re-read portions of the narrative as my initial reading left me a bit baffled. I feel I was unable to comprehend what the story was about in its totality. The concept of time – movement, fluidity and the perception of the present as opposed to what is not obvious- is an overarching theme in this story. I enjoyed the cast of interesting characters, fantastical elements and the dream-like setting of the story but I did face some difficulty in following the native dialect. I understand that some of the words may be rooted in folklore or myth or the author’s imagination but a Glossary would have been helpful. I believe those who have read the author’s previous works would appreciate this novel more than I have.