The Servants - Softcover

Smith, Michael Marshall

Softcover

ISBN 10: 006149416X ISBN 13: 9780061494161

Publisher: Harper Voyager, 2008

Synopsis

For young Mark, the world has turned as bleak and gray as the Brighton winter. Separated from his real father and home in London, he's come to live with his mother and her new husband in an old house near the sea. He spends his days alone, trying to master the skateboard, while other boys his age are in school. He hates the unwanted stepfather who barged into Mark's life to rob him of joy. Worst of all, his once-vibrant mother has grown listless and weary, no longer interested in anything beyond her sitting room.

But on a damp and chilly evening, an accident carries Mark into the basement flat of the old woman who lives at the bottom of his stepfather's house. She offers tea, cakes, and sympathy . . . and the key to a secret, bygone world. Mark becomes caught up in the frenetic bustle of the human machinery that once ran a home, and drawn ever deeper into a lost realm of spirits and memory. Here below the suffocating truths, beneath the pain and unhappiness, he finds an escape, and quite possibly a way to change everything.

A richly evocative, poignantly beautiful modern-day ghost story, The Servants marks the triumphant return of Michael Marshall Smith--the first novel in a decade from the multiple award-winning author of Spares.

About this title

Product Description:

Paperback. Pub the Date: September. 2008 Pages: 224 in Publisher by: Harpercollins For young Mark. The world has turned as bleak and gray as the ighton winter. Separated from his real father and home in. London. He's-come to live with his mother and her new husband in an old house near the sea. He spends his days alone. trying to master the skateboard. while other boys his age are in school. He hates the unwanted stepfather who barged into Mark's life to rob him of joy. Worst of all. his once-viant mother has grown listless and weary. no longer interested in anything beyond her sitting room.But on a damp and chilly evening. an accident carries Mark into the basement flat of the old woman who lives at the bottom of his stepfather's house. She offers tea. cakes. and sympathy ... and the key to a secret. bygone world. Mark becomes caught up in the frenetic bustle of the human m...

Review:

Talk about a protean career! The writer Michael Marshall, one might think, already has more than enough strings to his bow: As Michael Marshall Smith, he created some of the most inventive and quirky of cutting-edge science fiction novels; dropping the ‘Smith’ (as Michael Marshall), his bestselling crime fiction is among the most technically adroit and pulse-racing in the field. But here he is with yet another hat on – and as M M Smith, he proves to be just as accomplished a writer for younger readers. The Servants is an absolute spellbinder: a wonderfully engaging yarn that will rivet the attention of both younger readers and those adults lucky enough to pick it up.

11-year-old Mark is well aware – even at this tender age – of the fragility and insecurity of life. After his move from the bustle of London to the more bracing seaside air of Brighton in the winter, he finds he is not enjoying himself. His mother’s illness is distressing, and, worse, he cannot stand his new stepfather. The house he lives in is a strange place, with, what’s more, a strange elderly woman in the basement. The sands of reality are about to shift for the vulnerable Mark, and he may have to rely for help on some people who may not even be real.

Smith’s mastery of the fantasy genre is, thankfully, a skill he has not allowed to wither on the vine, and this is intelligent, allusive writing; both disturbing and evocative. Let’s hope MM/Michael/Marshall/Smith finds time to revisit the genre in between his flesh-creeping adult thrillers. --Barry Forshaw

About this edition

• Publisher: Harper Voyager
• Publication date: 2008
• ISBN 10: 006149416X
• ISBN 13: 9780061494161
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 224