About the book: year / "The damp, moonless night poured into the valley, like muddy swamp slurry pours into a hoof print on the road. The rain drizzled for the fourth day in a row, and the sun last showed its fiery face to Shandalar more than three months ago. Residents of the Lake District counted down the months out of habit: they also managed to see the Moon only once or twice in a few weeks. Blame it on the clouds: they shrouded the Lake District in a thick curtain, as if they intended to drown it with endless rain…»