"Ühes Londoni korteris vaatavad kaks poissi tõtt ema surma talumatu kurbusega. Nende isa, Ted Hughesi uurija ja karune romantik, näeb ees ootavat tulevikku täis heasoovlikke külalisi ja absoluutset tühjust. Sel meeleheitehetkel saabub nende juurde Vares – vaenlane, trikster, ravitseja, lapsehoidja. Seda sentimentaalselt lindu lihtsalt tõmbab leinava pere poole ning ta ähvardab, et ei lahku enne, kui nad teda enam ei vaja. See erakordne ja äärmiselt omapärane raamat – osalt jutustus, osalt...
There's a village an hour from London. It's no different from many others today: one pub, one church, redbrick cottages, some public housing, and a few larger houses dotted about. Voices rise up, as they might anywhere, speaking of loving and needing and working and dying and walking the dogs. This village belongs to the people who live in it, to the land and to the land's past. It also belongs to Dead Papa Toothwort, a mythical figure local schoolchildren used to draw as green...
