Lud-In-The-Mist by Hope Mirrlees

A true classic - and the 'single most beautiful...and unjustifiably forgotten novel of the twentieth century' Neil GaimanLud-in-the-Mist is a prosperous country town situated where two rivers meet: the Dawl and the Dapple. The Dapple springs from the land of Faerie, and is a great trial to Lud, which rejects anything 'other', preferring to believe only in what is known, what is solid. Nathaniel Chanticleer, a dreamy, melancholy man, is deliberately ignoring a vital part of his own past; a secret he refuses even to acknowledge.

But with the disappearance of his daughter, and a long-overdue desire to protect his son, he realises Lud is changing - and something must be done.