Second paragraph of third chapter:

For a while the road passed charred stumps of buildings, and field rank with nettle. Dust, or ash, kicked up under Roland’s feet, muffling his walk and coating his body so aridly that his skin rasped. Flies whined round him, and crawled in his hair, and tried to settle on his lips. The sky was dull, yet there was a brittleness in the light that hurt. It was no longer wonder that led him, but dislike of being alone.

A recently reacquired Alan Garner novel, this one an intensely imagined story of four siblings who are drawn into the mythic struggle of the parallel world of Elidor from their home in early 1960s Manchester. Garner is very good at painting emotional landscapes with few words, and his realisation of Manchester and the surrounding territories in our world and in Elidor are very vivid. Glad to return to this one. You can get Elidor here.

Surprisingly perhaps, a Bechdel pass even though one of the brothers, Roland, is the viewpoint character; his sister Helen and their mother (whose name is I think given only as “Mrs Watson”) have a couple of exchanges which are not about men.