Duncton Wood by William Horwood
Buy Duncton Wood from Amazon.co.uk 
Buy Duncton Wood from Amazon.com 
Duncton Wood is the moving love story of Bracken and Rebecca and the trials they must face and overcome to be as one. It is unfortunate that this work must be compared to Watership Down but that is the only book with which I can really compare it to in terms of story-line and excellence. This book is about moles and unlike anything you have ever read before. The animal kingdom is savage and survival of the fittest is a fact of life (or death). This is a book for adults and is at times as dark as it is uplifting. The book was first published in 1980 and has since become a best-selling novel.
The narrative begins with Bracken, outside in a storm and finally coming to terms with himself. He has finally accepted who he is, not a fighting mole, but a gentle, spiritual and caring mole, a lover of sun and with hatred of fighting. Rebecca loves life and brings joy to all she encounters but her father is Mandrake, the most feared mole in Duncton, a leader whose control is marked with blood.
It is not easy to suddenly have moles as the characters that are centre to the entire work and with whom you must feel compassion towards but that only lasts a very short time. William Horwood is a wonderful author who, in Bracken, Rebecca, Mandrake, Rune and all other Duncton Wood moles, gives us characters who match any in fantasy literature.
The moles are given human elements (speech and faith for example) and this makes them easily identifiable to the reader. The research that William Horwood conducted in the writing of Duncton Wood must have been extensive, as there appears to be no guesswork and every single line and chapter rings true. I am sorry to have to mention Watership Down again but in both these books the English countryside is depicted in such a beautiful way that it helps English readers like I realised what a lovely country we do live in.
The Ancient System took in the injured Bracken as a mother tending a gravely hurt pup. It caressed him with silence, soothed him with its darkness, and its labyrinths were to give him the space in which to find himself again.
The theme of love runs strong throughout Duncton Wood, Bracken and Hulver, the aged mole who teaches him so much runs parallel to Rebecca and Rose, the healer who trains her to take over her duties as she ages. Bracken and Bosworth, Rebecca and Cairn, Mandrake and Rebecca, all these relationships are portrayed with great empathy and capable a bringing out great compassion from the reader.
He tried to comfort her but she pulled away, looking at him from a cold and far-off place he knew he could never reach. His hold on her fell limp and she crossed over to where Mandrake lay, paused for a moment as she touched his head gently, looked back at Bracken and Stonecrop with a fierce and cold pity, and then went out of the clearing and into the dark.
This is a long book at over 700 words in length and takes some reading, especially as it is only the first part of a trilogy. The themes that I felt were contained in it, other than the overriding theme of love, was the comfort that can be gained from faith when faced with a society that is deteriorating around you.
I read an excellent review of Duncton Wood on another site where the reviewer had researched the various locations of the mole systems. Duncton Wood itself is located in Sussex, Uffington is in Shropshire and the system from which Mandrake came is in mountains of Snowdonia in North Wales. This puts into perspective the journeys that the moles undertook during the course of Duncton Wood.
Duncton Wood is a truly breathtaking and enchanting read that reminds us how savage yet full of love the animal kingdom truly is.
Links related to Duncton Wood on WilliamHorwood.net
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Susan from Hull
Beautiful is exactly the right word for this book. Rare beauty, I might add. I know that Watership Down is read in schools throughout the UK as part of the English literature course but I honestly think that this is even better. Don't get me wrong, Watership Down is a book that is excellent in its own right but the themes and morals of Duncton Wood are on another level and children would really benefit from reading about the fight between good and evil that is integral to this book. I know this is perhaps too long (700+ pages) for many kids to get through but the ones that do will have read a book that will stay with them forever.
William from Shropshire
The Duncton Wood books really are magical, I'd never have thought the a story about moles could be so moving and realistic. The trilogy dwarfs The Lord of the Rings in size so it requires some dedication but it more than worth that effort. After reading these they will never leave you and you will often find yourself strangely drawn to them on your bookshelf and be tempted to read them all again. I\'m surprised that they don\'t receive that acclaim that they deserve, hopefully one day they will.
Helen from Weston Super Mare
Absolutely fantastic - I have read the trilogy before and enjoying it even more the second time. Spellbinding!!
Maureen from Lancashire
This book was given to me, I didn't really think that I would enjoy a story about moles but I loved it and didn't want it to end. I only finished reading it a few minutes ago and decided to look up the author, I'm delighted that there is more....so now the search begins.
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