Books - Fire and Hemlock

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	Books - Fire and Hemlock

Fire and Hemlock is a modern retelling by Diana Wynne Jones of the Scottish legend of Tam Lin and the Ballad of Thomas the Rhymer. It was first published in 1985.

This story mirrors the story of Tam Lin. For instance, the funeral building represents Carterhaugh. Tam is Tom, who is being used as a tithe to Hell. His ex-wife Laurel clearly represents the Queen of the Faeries.

A young girl named Polly stumbles into the funeral in an old "evil" house and is promptly approached by a man named Thomas Lynn who takes her back outside and keeps her company.

Over the subsequent months and years Tom and Polly come up with stories about a hero named Tan Coul and his assistant Hero, who are Mr. Lynn's and Polly's alter egos, respectively. These stories all eventually come true, after a fashion. For instance, at one point they were discussing Tan Coul having a horse and then they found a horse disrupting traffic in the street. Polly and Mr. Lynn, scared by these strange coincidences, gradually drift apart. However Polly always sees Mr. Lynn's nasty ex-wife around.

Many years later Polly realises that she does not know Thomas Lynn, and that he has been completely eradicated from her memory. Her residual memories are triggered by a picture Tom had given her. She then goes off in search of Tom and discovers that he is being taken to a funeral by the evil family of his ex-wife. Polly sees that the funeral is for a particular person, the exact same person whose funeral Polly had walked in on nine years before. She then realises that Mr. Lynn is being used as a sacrifice to keep his ex-wife's husband alive. Polly then rushes to his aid in a very surreal and complicated finale.

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