*That novel is seriously underrated as a work of the uncanny.*

So much this. I've owned two copies and read it at least thrice and I've not seen that as a carnival before. Though I've often thought that the dead and the fey could be the same thing. And wondered whether it might have been an influence on The Shire. The first reading I almost saw it as a fey-tinged detective novel. I love Nathaniel.It's a bittersweet book, the other side of the coin of "Goblin Market", and I wish Mirrlees had written just a little more fantasy. And wonder if just one bite of the fruit would hurt...