Some Kind of Fairy Tale

I devoured Graham Joyce's new book, Some Kind of Fairy Tale, appropriately enough, sandwiched between two researchy  books about psychiatric ERs.  It earned the hype it's been getting.  (I was underwhelmed by The Silent Land, and therefore somewhat apprehensive.)

In a nutshell, teenage Tara goes missing and does not show up again until 20 (IIRC) years later, and her explanation is that a fairy man - though of course they abhor that appelation- abducted her (willingly, in the fairy sense of such things). 

As you might expect, a good deal of the book involves psychotherapy, with an oddball doctor who once subjected a village woman to shock therapy for a very similar story.  This was vaguely interesting, though his theories were purposely predictable, but the povs of the family and ex-boyfriend and their interactions with Tara were engrossing.

What do you say to such a story, in the English countryside, when so much rings true?  Lots of food for thought and clever language, without as much of the over- the- top grotesquerie Joyce often employs in the name of realism (like in The Tooth Fairy and Smoking Poppy).  I like his often grim, stoic character povs, as befits their stories, but a little more lightness was welcome here.

That said, though it might be a mistake to listen to this while falling asleep, next up for aidiobooks is Hell House by Richard Matheson.