Every once in a while, you come upon a book that defies any specific genre label. Country Roads is just such a book.
Country Roads is a trip into small-town life crossed with superstition crossed with horror. I found it hard to put down. Colin Leonard has written a genre-bending exploration of Irish folklore and superstition and crossed it with horror.
Irish folklore calls lone Hawthornes standing in a field a Faerie tree. They’re believed to be portals between the mortal (human) and faery worlds. During the celebration of Beltane (May Day), people hang tributes to the faeries, in an attempt to appease them or gain some favorable result. It is believed Faeries can be either good or evil. They may be either angels, saints, or instead a cruel creature laughing at the pathetic humans.
Country Roads is a story about a small Irish town and one such Faerie tree, although, in the book, it’s called the Twisted Tree. This particular Faery Tree is believed to cure those who are crippled if they leave a tribute. The townsfolk believe the tree became twisted because it took on crippling illnesses, thus twisting the trunk as the person had been. Thus, many tributes have been hung from the branches of the tree in the hope they will be cured.
This does not seem to be what occurs in this case, however. Instead, the tree gives off a feeling of evil and foreboding. The atmosphere in the town, centered around this faery tree, becomes thick with never-ending fear.
Horror is one of the major aspects of this book, as the plot begins as several loosely related storylines that converge into one. I have not come upon a book written in this manner before, but found it intriguing. The author managed to keep the plot on track and the reader engaged even though the storyline jumped between characters.
The book could have benefited from a little more background though, and an explanation for why this tree suddenly seems to become a portal for only the cruel creatures who wish to torment the poor, frail humans. The ending could have been more elaborate too. Yet, I found the superstitions around Faery Trees fascinating. In particular the tradition of hanging tributes from the branches in hopes of some favorable outcome, in this case, a cure for a crippling illness. I also found the apparent fickleness of the faeries interesting. Colin Leonard seems to have woven an underlying feeling of good becoming bad, or perhaps the bad is a counterbalance to previous good that had occurred.
Country Roads is an engrossing novel. Colin Leonard has woven the stories of the citizens of Kilcross, Ireland with a lesson about the fickleness of Faeries and the superstitions surrounding Faery Trees.
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