The Village Sang to the Sea

During the Cold War a 13-year-old American boy, Brad Lattimer, moves with his family to a fishing village in Northern Italy. It is no ordinary village. But Brad is welcomed like a long-lost cousin. His teacher is a gentle hunchback with a lisp who is more than he seems to be; and there are witches in the olive groves who will poison your cat, but not for the reasons you imagine. In those same groves there is a village so small it shouldn't be a village, its red doorways too short for normal men to pass through easily; and at night, on its narrow cobble street, creatures that should not exist walk while a single baby cries forever. On the sands of the next cove sits a pale girl who somehow knows the poetry of the great Romantic poet Percy Bysshe Shelley and wants you to drown with her, just as Percy drowned near this village over a century ago. This is the village where Brad, too, will start to dream strange dreams and write his first stories; where, he will fall sick because the village's magic has a hold on him: It wants him to become something other than a boy--something that can never leave it--something it can have as its own forever.

"The Village Sang to the Sea: A Memoir of Magic is a uniquely haunting book. It's a beauty in the fullest meaning of the word.”

--Peter S. Beagle, World Fantasy Lifetime Achievement winner and author of The Last Unicorn

“The Village Sang to the Sea is that rarity: a book that delicately and perfectly captures the magic we all know underlies the world. You will not forget this book. Not ever."

--Nancy Kress, Hugo and Nebula awards winner

"The Village Sang to the Sea: A Memoir of Magic is just what its sub-title promises: magic. It’s evocative, authentic, beautiful and completely compelling.”

--James P. Blaylock, World Fantasy Award winner

"Bruce McAllister's gorgeous new novel is magical realism at its very best. I loved it.”

--Terri Windling, Bram Stoker Award winner and co-editor of the The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror series

"In our early years we all believe and trust in endless possibilities. Most of us soon leave this realm, though some of us return from time to time. If we call it merely 'imagination,' we don't reach the truly magical. The Village Sang to the Sea: A Memoir of Magic got me there. It's a delight."

--Ron Arias, National Book Award nominee and author of The Road to Tamazunchale