Freakslaw by Jane Flett

(Doubleday, 2024)

Reviewed by Allen Stroud

Freakslaw by Jane Flett is an interesting novel. In 1997, the carnival comes to the Scottish town of Pitlaw, disrupting the italic boredom of the residents, providing a source of intriguing excitement for younger characters like Ruth MacNamara. The travellers are exotic, strange and confrontational. There is a magic about them that manifests in moments of danger, there is a sense they are not limited by the everyday concerns of the locals.

Flett’s writing navigates a careful line. The magical exotic nature of the carnival never strays into endorsing prejudice. However, her story does reveal it and describe it as the two communities interact with one another. There is a clear connection between this story and Ray Bradbury’s, Something Wicked this Way Comes. The subject material is similar, although Flett’s work is set in an English town, rather than rural America.

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Review from BSFA Review 24 - Download your copy here.