Fire and Hemlock by Diana Wynne Jones
"Fire and Hemlock" is a fantasy novel that explores themes of memory, friendship, and the intersection of reality and myth through the journey of its protagonist, Polly. As she prepares to return to college, Polly is troubled by the sudden realization that her memories are fragmented, particularly concerning a mysterious figure named Thomas Lynn. The story unfolds with Polly’s childhood experiences, including adventures with her friend Nina and a fateful encounter at Hunsdon House, where she meets Thomas. Their burgeoning friendship, rooted in a shared love for heroic tales, is complicated by Polly's challenging family dynamics, including her parents' tumultuous relationship and eventual divorce.
As Polly navigates her adolescence, she becomes increasingly entangled in the lives of Thomas and the Leroy family, facing both supportive and antagonistic forces. A significant aspect of the narrative involves Polly's struggle to understand the nature of her memories, as she discovers that others do not recall Thomas Lynn. The story incorporates elements of folklore, particularly the tale of Tam Lin, reflecting Polly’s quest to save Thomas from a dire fate. The novel concludes with an ambiguous resolution, leaving readers to ponder the future of Polly and Thomas's relationship. "Fire and Hemlock" offers an intricate blend of fantasy and realism, inviting readers to explore the complexities of youth and the power of narrative.
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Fire and Hemlock
First published: 1985
Type of work: Novel
Type of plot: Fantasy—magical world
Time of work: The 1980s
Locale: Middleton and Bristol, England
The Plot
In the middle of packing to return to college, Polly suddenly becomes aware that she seems to have forgotten several years of her life, or rather that she seems to have two parallel sets of memories, one featuring a man called Thomas Lynn. In trying to figure out this puzzle, she is obliged to work back through her adolescence, recalling events.
Readers see Polly at the age of twelve. She has been sent to her grandmother’s home because her parents are quarrelling. There, with her friend Nina, she undertakes a madcap set of adventures that lead her to the mysterious Hunsdon House, where she inadvertently steps into a funeral and attends the reading of the will. She is rescued by a young man called Thomas Lynn, with whom she strikes up a friendship. They quickly discover that they share a love of heroic tales and begin to invent one concerning Tan Coul, who is Lynn, with Polly as his assistant.
The friendship and the storytelling continue by letter. Thomas gives Polly many books suitable for assistant heroes. Polly becomes aware, however, of her grandmothers disapproval, and also of an unhealthy interest from the occupants of Hunsdon House, who seem to punish her and Thomas for any contact.
This friendship against the odds is counterpointed by Polly’s miserable daily life. Her parents separate and eventually divorce, and Polly comes to realize that neither of them really wants her. Her mother moves from one partner to another, and her father begins living with a woman who clearly dislikes children. In one particularly appalling scene, Polly’s mother sends her to live with her father permanently, but he has not told his new partner that Polly is coming. Only through the intervention of Thomas Lynn and Polly’s grandmother is disaster averted.
As Polly grows older, she finds that her life remains inextricably mixed up with that of Thomas Lynn and the Leroy family but is unable to work out what is happening. Sebastian Leroy, the child of the family, dogs her footsteps and eventually asks her to marry him, but she refuses. Only the combination of the book she is reading and the picture Thomas Lynn gave her many years earlier suddenly alert her to the curious nature of her memories. She then discovers that no one else can remember Thomas Lynn and begins to doubt her own sanity. Her flatmate, however, reveals that she remembers him, and Polly finds that Thomas Lynn’s Dumas Quartet has become well known in the musical world.
Reading at last the book of fairy stories he once gave her, she realizes that the story of Tam Lin is being reenacted, with the Queen of the Fairies keeping a man for seven years and then consigning him to Hell. Her role, like that of Janet, is to hold onto Thomas Lynn and save him from this. A final confrontation with the mysterious Laurel rescues Thomas Lynn. The novel is resolved ambiguously, with a hint of a future relationship between Polly and Thomas.