Reprinted from Green Man Review.
I know Peter Dickinson mainly as a writer of brilliant, thought-provoking stories of alternate worlds, imagined futures, and philosophical questions — such as the Changes Trilogy, Eva, and The Blue Hawk. His new novel for young readers, Inside Grandad, was therefore something of a surprise to me. Set in Stonehaven, a quiet seaside village in Scotland, it concerns no outer drama or conflict; the “Grandad” of the title has a stroke in the first few pages and most of the story takes place by his hospital bed.
Though nothing outwardly happens for a long time, as Grandad lies comatose, Dickinson turns his penetrating gaze inward into the soul of a young boy whose world is disrupted by this event. Gavin can’t imagine life without Grandad, who has effectively raised him while his parents have been busy at work. He desperately searches for a way to reach him, to bring his grandfather out of the prison that his body has become. Does the key lie with the selkies, the seal people Grandad has told him of? Did he really see one in the harbor just the day before the stroke? Is it crazy for him to try to ask them for help?
Gavin’s quest to rescue Grandad is fully as absorbing as any journey across deserts and over mountains. The majority of the dramas of human life, after all, probably take place in the most seemingly ordinary circumstances. The true value of ordinary things — a word, the grasp of a hand, the warmth between people — becomes clear only when they are taken away. Dickinson has beautifully captured the experience of a child in such a crisis, and given it just a touch of magic.
At a little over 100 pages, Inside Grandad doesn’t take long to read. Yet in this compact space it captures a place and a family with telling detail. The people may be fictional, but Stonehaven is a real village. I’d love to go there and look for the selkies one day.
(Wendy Lamb Books, 2004)
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