The People in the Picture

I started reading this and could hardly put it down! It had such a mysterious, other wordly feel to it, yet it is not fantasy. It takes place in modern England, but has a mythical feel to it and seems completely plausible. Was Lacy just an odd man, or is he something else?

Knowing my love of old mythogies, especially Celtic ones, my aunt recently sent me a copy of this book that she'd found at a Library sale. It's a great attempt to show what it might be like to have an Old mythic being, Taliesin, (in Welsh mythology a magical poet and shapeshifter) involve himself with a young woman and her family in contemporary England. It has some odd shifts and mysterious happenings...in some ways akin to Fowles/THE MAGUS. After reading it, I immediately began to research Celtic/Welsh myth to try to better understand some of the elusive qualities/forms Middleton had his Taliesin take. Though, I have to admit,I'm still not certain Lacey WAS Taliesin. If you know Celtic myth (which Middleton did, and published another book on) you'll probably end up like I did...reaching for the old books to help you decide whether this mysterious stranger was a good old Being, or a dangerous troublemaker!