The Owl Service
First edition
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| Author | Alan Garner |
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| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Young adult fantasy novel, horror, supernatural fiction |
| Publisher | William Collins, Sons |
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Publication date
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1967 |
| Media type | Print (hardback & paperback) |
| Pages | 156 pp (first edition) |
| ISBN | |
| OCLC | 156462103 |
| LC Class | PZ7.G18417 Ow |
The Owl Service is a low fantasy novel for young adults by Alan Garner, published by Collins in 1967. Set in modern Wales, it is an adaptation of the story of the mythical Welsh woman Blodeuwedd, an "expression of the myth" in the author's words.
Garner won the annual Carnegie Medal from the Library Association, recognising the year's best children's book by a British author. It was named one of the top ten Medal-winning works for the 70th anniversary celebration in 2007, selected by a panel to compose the ballot for a public election of the all-time favourite. Garner also won the second annual Guardian Children's Fiction Prize, a similar award that authors may not win twice. Only six books have won both awards in the 45 years from 1966 to 2011.
The mythical Blodeuwedd is featured in the Fourth Branch of the Mabinogi. She is a woman created from flowers by Math and Gwydion, for a man cursed to take no human wife. She betrays that husband Lleu in favour of another man, Gronw, and is turned into an owl as punishment for inducing Gronw to kill Lleu. In Garner's tale three teenagers find themselves re-enacting the story. They awaken the legend by finding a set of dinner plates (a "dinner service") with an owl pattern, which gives the novel its title.
Henry Z. Walck published the first US edition in 1968.
Roger and Alison are stepbrother and sister. Alison's father died and her mother Margaret has married Clive, a businessman and former RAF officer. Clive's former wife was notoriously unfaithful, bringing shame to the family and a particular kind of pain to his son, Roger. To bond the new family together they are spending a few weeks of the summer in an isolated valley in Wales, a few hours' drive from Aberystwyth. They occupy a fine house formerly owned by Alison's father, subsequently transferred to her to avoid death duty. He in turn inherited it from a cousin, Bertram, who died there in mysterious circumstances around the time Alison was born.
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Wikipedia