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Content snapshot
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Violence
Some
A supernatural villain attacks a child; some disturbing creature violence
Language
Barely any
Mild language
Sexual Content
Barely any
A child glimpses adult sexuality in a disturbing context
Substance Use
None
No substance use
Emotional Intensity
A lot
A child in genuine sustained peril; disturbing supernatural evil that enters a family home; the horror of powerlessness in childhood
What this book is about
A middle-aged man, back in his Sussex hometown for a funeral, visits the farm at the end of the lane and remembers a terrifying summer when he was seven. A lodger's suicide unleashed something monstrous from beyond, and his neighbor Lettie Hempstock—who is much more than she seems—helped him fight it. Gaiman's slim, luminous novel is both a fairy tale and a meditation on memory, childhood fear, and the things adults forget they survived.
Notes for sensitive readers
Reader-flagged moments and themes that may affect your experience.
Disturbing supernatural villain who infiltrates a child's home and family
A child in genuine peril
Adult sexuality glimpsed from a child's perspective
Reader Verification
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