THE GRAVEDIGGER'S COTTAGE
Chris Lynch
HarperCollins
Fiction
ISBN: 0066239400
208 pages

After a series of unfortunate accidents involving family pets, the McLuckies move to a new home. The seaside house is called the Gravedigger's Cottage by the local townspeople because it has a reputation for attracting residents who have lost loved ones.

It turns out that the McLuckies have lost more than their pets. The two McLuckie children, Walter and Sylvia, both lost their mothers early in their lives. Their father has decided not to marry Mrs. McLuckie number three, in the same way that Sylvia has given up on owning pets. The McLuckies are trying to leave their old life and reputation behind, but the Gravedigger's Cottage, in addition to their own eccentric behaviors, make it difficult for them to make a new start, even if they are living in a new place.

Chris Lynch made his reputation writing about disturbed young people with FREEWILL, which deals with a boy whose parents die in an apparent murder/suicide and is narrated in second person. While THE GRAVEDIGGER'S COTTAGE isn't nearly so challenging in subject matter or in style, it retains Lynch's characteristic darkness. The deaths of the pets, while they may be familiar to many pet-owning readers, are graphically detailed and horrifying not just in their depth, but also in their number.

The subject of bereavement and pet loss is not new to young adult literature. However, THE GRAVEDIGGER'S COTTAGE takes a completely different approach to the subject than is found in pet-loss classics like Fred Gipson's OLD YELLER or WHERE THE RED FERN GROWS by Wilson Rawls. This novel does not focus on Sylvia's attachment to her pets. On the contrary, many of Sylvia's pets suffer from her inability to form meaningful attachments to animals or people.

Lynch's gift for dialogue, particularly his portrayal of sarcasm, is present in THE GRAVEDIGGER'S COTTAGE. The exchanges between siblings Walter and Sylvia are sharp and humorous, even if the book as a whole lacks the kind of buoyancy found in other Lynch works like SLOT MACHINE, a hilarious sendup of summer sports camp. Lynch's careful writing and portrayal of everyday situations make it clear that the McLuckie family cares deeply for one another. In this they are fortunate, even if in other ways they are not particularly lucky.

   --- Reviewed by Sarah A. Wood

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