Lud-in-the-mist - the fantasy classic book you've never heard of

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Lud-in-the-Mist by Hope Mirrlees is a classic fantasy novel that explores the tension between a prosaic, mercantile society and the untamed magic of Fairyland. The story is set in the Free State of Dorimare, a small country bounded by the sea and mountains. Its capital, Lud-in-the-Mist, sits at the confluence of two rivers: the Dawl, which brings wealth and trade, and the Dapple, which flows directly from the mysterious Elfin Marches. Centuries ago, the practical merchants of Dorimare led a revolution against their whimsical ruler, Duke Aubrey. Aubrey was a hunchback with an angelic face who played sinister jokes on his subjects, but who was also an exquisite poet. Following his expulsion, the merchants established a bourgeois republic where the law is supreme, poetry is feared, and consuming fairy fruit is considered a filthy, unspeakable vice. The citizens actively deny the existence of the Silent People, preferring the safety of solid, everyday realities and comfortable traditions. The narrative centers on Master Nathaniel Chanticleer, the Mayor of Lud-in-the-Mist and High Seneschal of Dorimare. Outwardly a jovial Dorimarite, Nathaniel is secretly haunted by a nameless fear, a profound melancholy triggered in his youth by the otherworldly note of an antique lute. This Note makes him crave the prosaic present while dreading the unknown, often driving him to wander the Fields of Grammary to find solace in the peaceful epitaphs of the dead. His quiet life unravels when his twelve-year-old son, Ranulph, begins to exhibit signs of madness. During a supper party, Ranulph causes a frantic scene, screaming that cutting a cheese will kill the moon and wither the flowers in Fairyland. Nathaniel later learns that his son has eaten fairy fruit, given to him by a mischievous former servant named Willy Wisp. Desperate to cure his son, Nathaniel consults Dr. Endymion Leer, an enigmatic physician. Leer calms the boy with an ancient fairy song and advises sending him to Widow Gibberty's farm in the West. Ranulph departs with a young servant, Luke Hempen, entering a rural world where the memory of Duke Aubrey is still revered. Meanwhile, a crisis strikes Lud-in-the-Mist. At Miss Primrose Crabapple's Academy for young ladies, the students are exposed to fairy music by a new dancing master, Professor Wisp, and a creepy old weaver named Portunus. The mesmerizing music drives the girls into a frenzy, and they ultimately run away, vanishing into the Elfin Marches. This tragedy devastates the leading families of Lud, including Nathaniel's closest friend, Master Ambrose Honeysuckle, whose daughter Moonlove is among the missing. The town is thrown into panic, and Nathaniel faces intense backlash for his perceived inefficiency. Driven by a sudden resolve to save his son and his town, Nathaniel sets aside his fears. At the western farm, Luke Hempen overhears a cloaked stranger plotting against the Chanticleers, shortly before Ranulph runs away toward the Debatable Hills. Back in Lud, Nathaniel and Ambrose reconcile and follow a trail of clues to a secret passage in the ancient Guild Hall. The passage connects to a hidden room guarded by the crazy washerwoman Mother Tibbs, and leads to Nathaniel's own family chapel in the graveyard. Hidden in the shadows, they witness a shocking scene: Dr. Endymion Leer and a smuggler digging up coffins filled with contraband fairy fruit, its red juice oozing out like blood. Nathaniel investigates an old criminal trial and deduces that Dr. Leer is actually Christopher Pugwalker, a former herbalist who helped Widow Gibberty murder her husband using the Berries of Merciful Death. Realizing that his son is caught in a web of murder and fairy fruit smuggling, Nathaniel is galvanized into action. He prepares to cross the boundaries of the law and venture toward the unknown to confront the ancient magic threatening his world.

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