Gems in the Bookshelves

DEBORAH CROMBIE: I know all the decluttering experts are always telling us we should get rid of books, but I can testify that there are times you will be glad you didn't. 

Somewhere around the midwinter solstice I saw a mention in a newsletter of Susan Cooper's poem THE SHORTEST DAY, with an excerpt. Susan Cooper, you may know, wrote a British fantasy series in the Sixties and Seventies known as THE DARK IS RISING, which is actually the title of the second book in the quintet. 

The language in the poem was so gorgeous, the sort of writing that has always inspired me! It reminded me that I had always meant to read Cooper's books--that, in fact, I thought I might actually have copies of those books somewhere. Sure enough, a quick look through the hall shelves turned up not just one or two, but all FIVE books, and right where I thought they'd be!

I flipped open the first book and was instantly and completely hooked.

Now, the first great mystery is why I had never managed to read them before now. They are classic British fantasy, and are in the tradition--and are mentioned in the same breath--as Tolkien and C.S. Lewis. Cooper is English, an Oxford graduate (from Somerville College, as were Dorothy Sayers and PD James) and was certainly influenced by the same British mythology as Tolkien, Lewis, Alan Garner, TH White, and Joy Chant (all of which I'd not just read but devoured.)

The second mystery is how I came by these books. The first book, OVER SEA, UNDER STONE, was published in 1965, the next four from 1973 to 1977. My copies are the original editions. 

In fact, the fourth book, THE GREY KING, is a first edition. 

Too bad it's not signed, as the internet tells me a signed first goes for about $800! Not that I would be tempted to sell...

Have I really been moving these books around since I was in my twenties? I certainly have no recollection of buying them as a set more recently, and I still have two of Joy Chant's books from the same era, right beside them. 

At any rate, I'm so glad I didn't lose Cooper's books in a move or a book purge, of which there have been many. They are fabulous, and if you are a fan of classic British fantasy--or even if you're not--I highly recommend them. (I've listened on Audible as I've read.)

They are considered YA (THE DARK IS RISING was a Newbery Honor book, and THE GREY KING the Newbery medalist) but the themes are very adult, and the books seem both timeless and in some respects shockingly current.

REDS and readers, is there a book (or books) you'd always meant to read and finally got around to?

And what gems have you discovered in your own bookshelves?

P.S.: An interest note, Cooper later immigrated to the U.S. and was married to the actor Hume Cronyn. She's led an interesting life!