2023/032: And Put Away Childish Things — Adrian Tchaikovsky

"Sometimes a wardrobe is just a wardrobe. Sometimes books are just books. That's why we call it 'fiction'."[loc. 624]

Harry Bodie is a failing TV presenter, stuck in children's programming and approaching middle age, lonely and petty and prone to drinking too much. He hopes an appearance on a TV genealogy show will revive his career, but instead he discovers that his great-grandmother died in a lunatic asylum. Her daughter, Harry's grandmother, wrote a beloved series of books about the magical kingdom of Underhill: typical post-war children's fantasy, with magical creatures, slap-up feasts and home to the real world with no time passing. When a private investigator shows up, claiming that her client takes Underhill 'very seriously', Harry is dubious. But what does he have to lose?

The Underlings do indeed take Underhill very seriously, and are quite prepared to use Harry's blood to open a portal. Luckily rescue is at hand. Less luckily, it's in the person of Timon, who is a fictional character (or so Harry tells himself firmly) and not a real faun, much less a decaying one. When Seitchman, the mysterious PI, gets in touch again, Harry is intrigued enough to meet her in the house that was his grandfather's. Where there is a wardrobe ('no, that's the other one. With the lion. We didn't do wardrobes in our family') which turns out to be a portal to Underhill. The magical kingdom of his grandmother's books is not at its best, and as Harry comes to understand its origins, he realises that he's the only hope that Underhill's crumbling inhabitants have ...

And Put Away Childish Things is another example of Tchaikovsky's versatility as an author, but it didn't quite work for me: I wasn't sure if it was aiming for comedy, profundity (about the responsibilities of creators, and the origins of magical worlds) or an exploration of what happens when (as Gaiman puts it) 'real things happen to imaginary people'. I did think the pandemic elements were very well handled: that sense of unreality and timelessness in the first lockdown, the erosion of 'normal' life: no wonder Harry is willing to return to Underhill. And the philosophies of Underhill's inhabitants, from 'rascally' Timon to the creepy clown Gombles, are well-considered. Fun, but it didn't quite hit the mark for me.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the advance review copy, in exchange for this full honest review. UK publication date is 28 MAR 2023.