Book Review: "Gingerbread" by Robert Dinsdale

I have read some Robert Dinsdale before. Known for his whimsical and often dark take on folkish and fairytale customs, The Toymakers was possibly one of the most memorable dark fantasy books I had read in a long time when it first came out. Since then, I haven't read much by him because of a changing TBR and for some reason, me moving away from dark fantasy novels. Recently, I rediscovered Robert Dinsdale in the form of this novel entitled Gingerbread and honestly, I couldn't be happier to see a beloved author again. I know, I know Gingerbread is older than The Toymakers but really, apart from Paris by Starlight, I hadn't heard of other novels by him - this was a lovely surprise and I adored it.

A young boy is living with his grandfather in Belarus whilst his mother is sick and acting strangely. His mother asks his grandfather to tell him a story about Baba Yaga and so he does. The mother starts to deteriorate before her son's eyes and eventually, she dies. Upon her death, the young boy must face the fact that some of his grandfather's stories should be held very dear as he pushes through the woods in order to protect his grandfather. His mother has left him some wonderful gingerbread to help him go on.

As he moved through this strange, dark and often twisted fairy tale history of stories as the wilderness, he discovers more and more secrets that he must be willing to confront about himself, all in the name of protecting and standing by his grandfather. With his mother gone, this young boy is practically on his own throughout the rest of the journey - physically and spiritually. I can't tell you too much about what he finds because that will ruin the story for you. But, I want you to know that it is absolutely brilliant and is wonderfully written.

This book reminded me of C.J Cooke's The Nesting because of the dark, twisted folkloric atmosphere set in a different country in which snow and the wilderness combine to make frightening, yet beautiful sublime landscapes. The pressure of the atmosphere is intense and we feel every single inch that each character moves throughout the story. With narratives and secrets covering the path to the end of the book, characters are forced to confront their own family's past with caution - what they discover may not always be that nice at all.

I think that Robert Dinsdale's writing is fantastic. Folkloric atmospheres are built on with incredible vigour and nature almost seems to live and breathe as the story moves on. Character development is definitely one of his strong points which I definitely saw with the vibrant but troubled Cathy from The Toymakers. I think that his most incredible strength is being able to balance everything perfectly: atmosphere, story, themes and characters. Everything works to make the story darker, more twisted, more fantastical and more thought-provoking as it moves, breathes and unfolds a narrative.

In conclusion, can I just say that you should definitely read The Toymakers too if you haven't already. Robert Dinsdale's writing is amazing and I am so glad that I rediscovered it again. It's a brilliant novel and has some amazing themes about self-discovery and secrecy. The folklore mixes perfectly with the ideas of fantasy, mystery and how we separate fact from fiction. The writing style is smooth, dark and often gets into the sort of atmospheric that I can definitely get lost in (you all know how I feel about long, wispy descriptions of the atmosphere - it is my literary weakness).

This is an achievement of modern dark fantasy.