The Briarmen: A fairy-tale for adults

Product Information

Hamish Beasly is evacuated to a village called Brombury during the WWII bombing of London. He’s taken in by a woman and her daughter - Penny. They decide to go to the Woods Beyond The Railway and there they stumble across the Briarmen - creatures who live in the forest, almost like tree children.

Author Interview: Joseph Chadwick — The Book Network

Unfortunately, things don’t stay this way for long, rumours of a German plane coming down in these woods and this threatens the Briarmen’s existance. Penny and Hamish have to figure out how to keep the secret of their new friends while the forest becomes a place of interest by the locals since the plane crash.

Thank you to the publisher for the gifted advanced copy of this book to review in exchange for an honest opinion. I loved how it was set in the woods in an English village during WW2. I love books set during the war and I enjoy historical fiction the two combined was definitely special. What I wasn’t expecting to love that much was the fantasy element part of it but I couldn’t help but love the little “Briarmen” and how unique they were. They all had their little personalities and this shone through in the writing style. Their relationship with the main characters was super special too. In general, I enjoy works that have fantastic or otherwise speculative elements, while also being firmly rooted into the historical period during which they take place, and telling stories about the human condition. The Briarmen is a book that balances this well. Bromsbury and its inhabitants felt real, and after a few chapters I could forget I was reading and think I was there with them. Small details such as the fields, the school and the pubs made this feel like a real place, so it wasn’t hard to suspend disbelief when it came to the magical aspect of the book; the mysterious woods and the peculiar inhabitants.

The Briarmen | The StoryGraph Reviews - The Briarmen | The StoryGraph

Joseph said he hopes to have more books in the pipeline but is focusing on promoting the publishing house. I LOVED this book, such a wonderful story that had me gripped all the way through. We were kindly provided with review copies by the publisher. The novel itself is a fantasy-adventure blend following the lives of Hamish – a young boy who is evacuated to the small and unassuming village of Brombury in 1939 – and Penny, whose mother takes Hamish in. Their initial distaste for each other soon blossoms into an unbreakable bond as they venture into the mysterious forest on the outskirts of the village, sparking a chain of events, secrets and lies beyond anything they believed possible. I felt nostalgic and almost like a kid, but the fact that the novel is set during WWII makes it a perfect read even for adults! You see, this book is not childish and I feel like many adults would appreciate it. I really liked the way these characters interacted with each other. Although there is definitely some tension between them at the start of the novel, by the end of the book they were great friends. They acted like children and there was not any pressure for them to build a romantic connection. It was a nice change to read a book without any romance. My only criticism for this text was that I felt like Hamish and Penny were much younger than they are. At the beginning of the text, we are told that Hamish is thirteen and Penny is fourteen. Of course this is set during a different time, but I can't imagine that Penny as a fourteen year old would spend her weekends playing in the woods. I just felt like they seemed more like elevenIt was well written, the characters and their relationships well established and developed, and the end of the book was excellent. It had me on the edge of my seat. My only complaint is that I now really want to know more about the Briarmen and their story!

Publisher Spotlight: Crescent Swan — The Book Network Publisher Spotlight: Crescent Swan — The Book Network

I felt the most intense rush of nostalgia for a place I’ve never been to and friends I’ve never had.I liked the development of Penny and Hamish’s characters both separately and as friends. I felt like they grew through the novel in a very natural way, nothing felt contrived, their reactions to the things they saw and learned were real and as such I enjoyed being on this adventure with them even more. Set at the start of the war you follow Hamish as he is evacuated out of London to the countryside. He meets his new family where he and penny become fast yet unlikely friends.