To be lost in the wood is to be lost in time.

I was drawn to the sublime artwork on the cover, and then by the blurb that promised a dark tale, inspired by traditional English folklore.

The book starts slowly, and has a timelessness to it. It’s set in 1962, but feels much older. Eshwood Hall is isolated and feels as if it exists in another time. When thirteen year old Izzy first meets the titular Green Man in the forest, he appears to be benign, willing to help her solve some problems, but for each solution, the payment he requires becomes more exacting. There is a building menace, and as the story develops, it becomes very dark indeed - brutal and shocking.
This is not one for the kiddies.

According to the jacket, this is the first in a series of folk-horror books set in Northalbion, a mythical version of Northumberland. I’m not convinced that this book successfully fulfils its brief, but it has some memorable moments that warrant a three star rating.