The Mine of Lost Days

by Marc Brandel

On a visit to Ireland, Henry falls into a "haunted" copper mine, and discovers that he and his new friends can travel into the past and change everyone's future.

Hardcover

First published January 1, 1974

About the author

Original name, Marcus Beresford; name legally changed during the 1960's. Author of eleven novels, contributor to The Three Investigators series. Author of the play "The Man Who Let It Rain," first produced in London at Theatre Royal. Contributed to numerous television series, including "Kraft Theater," "Playhouse 90," "Amos Burke," "The Alfred Hitchcock Hour", "Honey West", "Barnaby Jones," and "Fantasy Island." Author of teleplays for the BBC and for ITV. Contributed to periodicals, including Colliers, Atlantic Monthly, New York Times, and Cosmopolitan.

Reviews

[Bryn]

I got through this ILL in the hopes it was a lost book of my childhood, and alas, it was not. It is an interesting sort of time-travel story mixed with a boy dealing with family troubles and a predatory corporation, so it is doing a lot of things and while it is not bad, I did not love it, nor was I very satisfied with the ending. It might well be much more satisfying for a child, however -- it was definitely a book in which I was able to figure out how things were being set up long before it was put together by the characters. The time-travel was unusual, as the idea of a group of people living out of time in a space in which their desires are fulfilled, endlessly waiting for their beloved son to return to them -- it is a little religious, perhaps, the faithful waiting for the Messiah, living in hope, but in this case a hope that will never be fulfilled, although what would happen if they wanted/decided that Kevin was back? But that the mine could be used to move through time and that the movements changed the past was interesting.

As I write about this, I think it is accidentally saying some weird things about colonialism and how colonial powers decide what is 'best' for those they have power over -- our protagonist certainly has power over the 'ghosts' and decides what is the best outcome for them without consulting them or acknowledging their agency, and that is why I disliked the ending -- the people living in the mine become a token for Henry, something for him to think about and have feelings about, rather than actual people with thoughts and feelings of their own. I think it would stand up better now if there was some sense that perhaps they really were ghosts, or impressions of the past, or something other than real people Henry is treating as children with the agreement of the narrative because Irish peasants are so simple and unspoiled, aren't they? Which is an ugly look at it, but I it seems built into the story, although I do not think Brandel saw it.

[Alan]

A strange book that I can recall reading as a kid.

A boy on holiday in Ireland encounters some mysterious people who have hidden underground since the Potato Famine by the unusual expedient of consuming hallucinogenic mushrooms. It was somewhat weird, the end did not draw it together very well.

Still, a good reminder of childhood.

[Melissa]

I read this while on a quest to find a book that I cannot quite remember from my childhood. I have been searching for it for years and I think maybe it is by Joan Aiken. Anyway, this book was pretty good, and it was not the book I was looking for.

[Carol Rigsbee]

I think this is a book I read as a kid. I really liked it - would like to read it again.