Alan Garner, born in 1934 in Congleton, England, is a British novelist most well-known for his children's books, although much of his work - like Treacle Walker - brings together elements from both children's and adults' literature. Garner's work is greatly influenced by his childhood growing up in the county of Cheshire, England, and many of his novels incorporate elements from Cheshire's dialect, landscape, history, and folklore.
Garner was born to a working-class family in Congleton, where he was punished in school for speaking in Cheshire's dialect. He continued his education at the Manchester Grammar School before going on to attend Oxford, intending to study classics. While at...
