Scan barcode
A review by luana420
21st-Century Yokel by Tom Cox
5.0
I'd read Cox' Help the Witch before this and while one would think a loosely connected collection of autobiographical essays would be a far cry from a folk horror anthology, 21st Century Yokel's protagonists are as much the hillocks and ravines of Devon and Suffolk as any one of Cox or his friends and relatives.
The hills being characters to the extent that they are really makes the books feel like they share a DNA sequence. Devon is a place that feels ancient and unknowable, and yet part of every day life. That's a real tricky tight rope act to pull off, but Cox does it! The chippies and the ancient ruins, the black dogs of the moors and the dogging couples in motel car parks, they all feel of a piece with the landscape.
I'm very curious for Ring the Hill now!
The hills being characters to the extent that they are really makes the books feel like they share a DNA sequence. Devon is a place that feels ancient and unknowable, and yet part of every day life. That's a real tricky tight rope act to pull off, but Cox does it! The chippies and the ancient ruins, the black dogs of the moors and the dogging couples in motel car parks, they all feel of a piece with the landscape.
I'm very curious for Ring the Hill now!