Description

When young Pear arrives at Kopolka’s mental asylum on the
day of his mother’s death, he is summoned to a cavernous midnight rendezvous
where he meets Mystery, an enigmatic patient with a penchant for philosophy. He
is soon tricked into her service which, at first, requires little more than
helping her torment a school tyrant and retrieving a shipwreck for a seaboard
shelter. All seems well, particularly during his sojourns to the mollifying
Water, a fantasy, underwater world in which he finds himself a whale in the
company of erudite octopus Mr Octaveley. Soon, though, he discovers that
Mystery harbours dangerous delusions of her own and, as the price of replacing
his mother becomes ever more challenging for his shy, quiet nature, the lines
between reality and fancy begin to shake. The question is, will Pear let them
crumble or can he fight back?