The Owl Service is a
Young Adult fantasy novel written by English author
Alan Garner in 1967 about an English mixed-family staying in a cottage over the course of a Summer break away in the Welsh Valleys.
The story follows the Bradley family, seventeen-year-old Roger and his father Clive who along with his father's new girlfriend Margaret and daughter Alison arrive at an old house passed down through Margaret's family. Barely settled in their awkward living space Margaret finds a set of cutlery plates in the attics with an owl pattern and starts to behave strangely, as if she is being influenced or possessed by spirits, much to Roger's confusion. The discovery of the gardener's son Huw, hiding in the house also complicates the situation with parallels to the Welsh legend of Lleu and Blodeuwedd about a fatalistically tragic love triangle. As the holiday drags on the relationships between the teenagers and their parents grind under the strain it becomes clear that something supernatural is afoot.
Garner's novel was a major success upon its initial publication, seen as a major evolution from his previous, but very well-regarded fantasy novels that also utilized British and Celtic mythologies,
The Owl Service was hailed for being simultaneously realistic and fantastic, as well as passionate and full of uncertainties. The novel was adapted into an 8-part television serial (essentially a mini-series, but like a classic
Doctor Who story) by Granada for ITV in 1969 with a sharp experimental feel. A radio adaptation was also produced by BBC Radio 4 in 2000.
The Owl Service (both book and TV series) provides examples of:
- Gainax Ending: The Owl Service ends with a young girl who had been possessed by an incredible supernatural force converting that force from anger - "owls" to peace - "flowers". However, everything else about the characters' relationships (which have been totally wrecked) is left unresolved.
- The Ghost: Margaret, the mother of Alison. Many of the events pan out as the characters try desperately to keep her happy, but she never appears in the book. Similarly occurs in the TV series, to the extent that you see parts of her clothing and even hear her play piano in the same room, but never actually hear or see her.
- Luke, I Am Your Father: Gwyn has just found proof that Huw, the mad gardener, killed his mother's lover Bertram and accuses Huw of killing his father. Huw then reveals that he is Gwyn's father.
- Twice-Told Tale: Roger and Alison for the mythological Lleu and Blodeuwedd.
