Villages are full of tales. Some are forgotten while others become a
part of local folklore. But the fortunes of one British village are
watched over and irreversibly etched into its history as an omniscient,
somewhat crabby, presence keeps track of village life. Yes, this is a
novel told from the point of view of...a hill. And also lots of village
personalities. In the late sixties a Californian musician blows through
Underhill where he writes a set of haunting folk songs that will earn
him a group of obsessive fans and a cult following.Two decades later, a
couple of teenagers disturb a body on the local golf course. In 2019, a
pair of lodgers discover a one-eyed rag doll hidden in the walls of
their crumbling and neglected home. Tom Cox's masterful (and sometimes
spooky) novel is a psychedelic and enthralling exploration of village
life, a book of rivers, hills, soil, stone, and swirling time. "Funny,
thought-provoking and astoundingly clever ... What will I be able to
read after Villager? I'll just read it again, I guess. And again. Just
cancel all other books."-- Adele Nozedar, author of The Hedgerow
Handbook
