The Harp That Once .... a-coming-of-age novel, but with a haunting difference.
Christopher Bennett is a product of Ireland in the 1950's, a circumstance and historical moment very different from the hectic, present-day era of the 'Celtic Tiger.' Neighbours live safely in the arms of tradition; the fixed opinion is precisely that. The guardians of the system comport themselves "like those animals and plants whose defence mechanisms are forever at the ready to sting, poison, or swallow real or imaginary enemies."
Christopher, too, is firmly rooted in this tight universe, yet he also resides in the "thin place" of a higher plane. In these realms, the truly mundane constantly rubs shoulders with the mystical and far removed. Ultimately, it takes an insightful reader to land both fish at the end of the same line.
The Harp That Once gives us an adventure, a challenge, and a tale that will haunt, long after the last page is turned.