4.2 (312)

The Tooth Fairy

Name: The Tooth Fairy
Rating: 4.2 (312 reviews)
Author: Graham Joyce

by Graham Joyce

4.2 (312)

This classic novel the winner of the British Fantasy Award, tells the story of young Sam who wakes one night to find the Tooth Fairy in his room. She is not the gentle figure of childhood legend, but a frightening and malevolent presence. As Sam grows from a boy to a teenager he and his friends seem like any normal group of boys. They roam wild around the outskirts of their car factory city having fun, daring adults to challenge their freedom. But Sam continues to be visited by the fairy. Is the fairy real or is she just some part of his tortured imagination and if she is, how far is she to blame for the terrible events that are to follow? Contains a 3,000-word Afterword by the author.

“One of those near-perfect novels that grabs you from the first page ‘ The Times

‘Sharp, freshly imagined, and evocative work, by turns wrenching, funny, and disquieting.’ Kirkus

‘The novel’s appeal lies primarily in the three boys, who are charmingly mischievous, naive and hormone-driven, portrayed by Joyce with a gentle wit. No less compelling, though, is the fairy, a fleur de mal from childhood’s secret garden whose perfume seduces Sam and the reader alike into a fertile, startling nightmare. (Mar.) FYI: The Tooth Fairy has won the 1997 British Fantasy Award for best novel.’ Publishers Weekly

‘A modern parable of loss and maturity…deft, canny and highly readable.’ Iain Banks

‘Joyce’s best-known novel is probably The Tooth Fairy (1996), in which a boy’s accidental sighting of the legendary sprite wreaks havoc on house and home, and his coming of age. Graham’s achievement in this novel is his complete subversion of our cosy image of the nocturnal visitor, as well as the metaphorical treatment of puberty.’ The Guardian

As well as being brilliantly structured, well characterised and completely compelling, The Tooth Fairy is quite simply a wonderful piece of prose. ………for evidence of this, check out the scene in the church on Christmas Eve, or the acid trip in the woods. Both are excellent.’ Infinity Plus

‘To use the book-reviewing cliché, it’s a page-turner, as well as providing tremendous and provocative insight into the ordeal of growing up. No matter whether you are in the middle of this ordeal, or long since past it, The Tooth Fairy is a must read. Even for that half of humanity that has never been a boy — maybe it’ll help them understand a little bit better those of us who have.’ SF Site

‘This is quite possibly one of the best fantasy books that you will ever read. It takes you on a journey in the lives of these young characters from childhood to early adolescence. It’s a novel that is confident in portraying that the world is full of ups and downs, and that you have to carry on no matter what life throws at you.’ The Strange and the Curious