For the denizens of mythical Primeval, its fields and forests bounded by two rivers, the world beyond is nothing more than a dream.
Yet their stories – or Times – are a microcosm of the tumultuous recent history of the world.
The fortunes of the family of Michal the miller, whom conscription carries away in 1914, punctuate nearly a century of war and occupation.
The outcast Cornspike raises her daughter among the creatures and spirits of the forest.
The squire Popielski loses his faith and becomes obsessed with a game where progress is attained only by dreaming the right kind of dream.
Non-human beings – trees and mushrooms and archangels – have their Times too, as do inanimate objects, which may be ‘more important for the world than people’.
