Synopsis:

Herne the hunter, mischief-maker, spirit of the forest, leader of the wild hunt, hurtles through the centuries pursued by his creator. 

A shapeshifter, Herne dons many guises as he slips and ripples through time – at candlelit Twelfth Night revels, at the spectacular burning of the Crystal Palace, at an acid-laced Sixties party. Wherever he goes, transgression, debauch and enchantment always follow in his wake. 

But as the forest is increasingly encroached upon by urban sprawl and gentrification, and the world slides into crisis, Herne must find a way to survive – or exact his revenge. 

With its intoxicating, chameleonic voice and boundless imagination, Mischief Acts is British folklore as you’ve never read it before: dangerous, sexy, troubling, daring, savage, an exhilarating race through time and space, weaving together the ancient and the contemporary.

Review:

It’s no secret that British folklore is a favourite of mine, and in Mischief Acts, we look at Herne the Hunter. Spirit of the Forest and leader of The Wild Hunt, Herne is an antlered mischief maker, said to tear through the forests on horseback, rattling chains and tormenting cattle. Gilbert tells the tales of Herne through the ages, starting back in 1392 and ending in 2073. As we travel through this timeline, alongside Herne we follow the fate of the environment, the Hunter’s role changing with the loss of their woodland home.

I found this book utterly bewitching and so clever in the way it’s written. Gilbert’s writing is evocative and whimsical, lending buckets of atmosphere to the stories she is telling, but that is not what truly elevates it. The style of writing shifts, along with Herne, through each story, moving from ballads, through old prose and journals, into the modern-day English we all write in now.

Alongside this Herne changes too. As the woodland is diminished, so is Herne. From the beloved Hunter of a king, to the Spirit of Misrule causing chaos at a festival, to just a flicker, a vision. The wood is removed, our connection with nature tenuous, and so Herne is struggling to be seen and heard. This commentary on nature and our connection with it is threaded through the book, after all without the woods, where would Herne be? When we remove nature, we remove our magic.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. I loved the anticipation of starting a new chapter, wondering what form Herne might take next, what trickery would be afoot. I highly, highly recommend, especially if you enjoy folk stories.