''Boneland'' is a 2012 novel by

Alan Garner Alan Garner (born 17 October 1934) is an English novelist best known for his children's fantasy novels and his retellings of traditional British folk tales. Much of his work is rooted in the landscape, history and folklore of his native count ...

, a sequel to ''

The Weirdstone of Brisingamen ''The Weirdstone of Brisingamen: A Tale of Alderley'' is a children's literature, children's fantasy novel by English author Alan Garner. Garner began work on the novel, his literary debut, in 1957, after he moved into the late medieval house, ...

'' and ''

The Moon of Gomrath ''The Moon of Gomrath'' is a fantasy story by the author Alan Garner, published in 1963. It is the sequel to ''The Weirdstone of Brisingamen''. Plot synopsis Once again, it details the involvement of two children, Colin and Susan, with the ...

''. The boy Colin from the earlier novels is now an adult, still living near the top of

Alderley Edge Alderley Edge is a village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in Cheshire, England, north-west of Macclesfield and south of Manchester. It lies at the base of a wooded sandstone escarpment, ''The Edge'', overlooking the Cheshire Plai ...

but now a

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other tertiary education, post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin ...

working at the nearby

Jodrell Bank Observatory Jodrell Bank Observatory ( ) in Cheshire, England hosts a number of radio telescopes as part of the Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics at the University of Manchester. The observatory was established in 1945 by Bernard Lovell, a radio as ...

. His solitary home is a kit-built hut ("A Bergli") in a quarry. He has a form of

amnesia Amnesia is a deficit in memory caused by brain damage or brain diseases,Gazzaniga, M., Ivry, R., & Mangun, G. (2009) Cognitive Neuroscience: The biology of the mind. New York: W.W. Norton & Company. but it can also be temporarily caused by t ...

which means he remembers nothing from before the age of 13, including his twin sister and his childhood adventures. He visits a

psychotherapist Psychotherapy (also psychological therapy, talk therapy, or talking therapy) is the use of Psychology, psychological methods, particularly when based on regular Conversation, personal interaction, to help a person change behavior, increase hap ...

and the gradual uncovering of his past forms the main story. Interleaved with Colin's tale is another story set in the same part of England but at a distant time. A lone

Stone-Age The Stone Age was a broad prehistoric period during which stone was widely used to make stone tools with an edge, a point, or a percussion surface. The period lasted for roughly 3.4 million years and ended between 4000 BC and 2000&nbs ...

cave dweller A cave dweller, or troglodyte, is a human who inhabits a cave or the area beneath the overhanging rocks of a cliff. Prehistory Some Prehistory, prehistoric humans were cave dwellers, but most were not (''see'' ''Homo'' and Human evolution). ...

leaves "Ludcruck" (the chasm of Ludchurch) in search of companionship. Garner says that the focus of his research for the book was "the universal myth of the sleeping hero". He has written his own experience of psychotherapy into the novel. "Go to the pain", he was told by his therapist, "go to where it hurts the most, and say whatever it tells you." An important item towards the end of the book is a

Lower Palaeolithic The Lower Paleolithic (or Lower Palaeolithic) is the earliest subdivision of the Paleolithic or Old Stone Age. It spans the time from around 3.3 million years ago when the first evidence for stone tool production and use by hominins appears ...

hand axe A hand axe (or handaxe or Acheulean hand axe) is a Prehistory, prehistoric stone tool with two faces that is the longest-used tool in human history. It is made from stone, usually flint or chert that has been "reduced" and shaped from a larger ...

. Garner keeps such an axe in his study,"Interview: Alan Garner"
''

The Scotsman ''The Scotsman'' is a Scottish compact (newspaper), compact newspaper and daily news website headquartered in Edinburgh. First established as a radical political paper in 1817, it began daily publication in 1855 and remained a broadsheet until ...

'' 15 September 2012 although his is from the

Acheulean Acheulean (; also Acheulian and Mode II), from the French after the type site of Saint-Acheul, is an archaeological industry of stone tool manufacture characterized by the distinctive oval and pear-shaped "hand axes" associated with ''Homo ...

culture while the one in the book is from the even older

Abbevillian culture Abbevillian (formerly also ''Chellean'') is a term for the oldest lithic industry found in Europe, dated to between roughly 600,000 and 400,000 years ago. The original artifacts were collected from road construction sites on the Somme river near ...

References

2012 British novels 2012 fantasy novels Novels by Alan Garner Novels set in prehistory Novels set in Cheshire Sequel novels British fantasy novels Fourth Estate books {{2010s-fantasy-novel-stub