One of the most compelling aspects of creating a make-believe life is the sense of protracted time and otherworldliness that comes with it. The narrator in Alan Cumyn’s latest novel reveals glimpses of this other dimension with striking charm and perspicacity. The narrative, spanning about a year in the lives of Owen Skye and his two brothers, takes place in an unnamed rural Canadian town in the 1960s. Unbeknownst to their parents, the three brothers embark on perilous adventures. Theirs is a world in which a brass jar on the mantelpiece carries special powers, a nearby deserted house is haunted by the Bog Man and his wife, and girls are considered both intrusive and fascinating. Owen’s love life centres on his classmate Sylvia, who gradually comes to return his attentions and is not, somehow, put off by his birthday party antics as Doom Monkey the Unpredictable.

This novel is peopled by quirky characters portrayed with broad humour and a strong touch of nostalgia. But because of the tight writing and the enduring honesty of the narrator’s voice, there’s no hint of the saccharine or sanitized realms that sometimes arise from a happy childhood recollected. Amid the humour are startlingly evocative analogies and the occasional poignant turn suggesting that some of life’s most powerful experiences are submerged in mundane realities.

Cumyn, the Ottawa-based author of several adult novels (including the acclaimed Burridge Unbound), has endowed this book with strong crossover appeal for adult and child audiences. This is his first novel for children; here’s hoping for more to come.