Once in a very long while, betwixt and between the humdrum of everydayness, something magical happens: life gives us a fairy tale. Sometimes it begins with a door; sometimes by following a peculiar cottontail down his hole. For Phinnegan Qwyk, it begins with a chilly November night, two wet footprints and Periwinkle Lark.
A flamboyant and cunning Fa with a penchant for mischief, Periwinkle is also a bit of a thief. When he snatches Phinnegan away to a Place-Beyond-the-Map, Phinnegan discovers that fairy tales arent all theyre cracked up to be: at least, not when you are being attacked by the wild wolves of the Faolch, being hunted by a gholem that lurks unseen in the shadows, or bargaining for your very life with a trolleven if she is beautiful.
When all seems lost, Phinnegan finds hope in the form of a shy pixie and a jolly, if rather messy, old man. His journey is not a mistake.
Evocative, purposeful and winsome, A Place Beyond the Map is what childrens dreams are made of. A simplistic tale spun within the world of fairy tales and myth, it is a story for children, and for those of us that are finally old enough to read fairy tales again.
