Much of Fire and Hemlock is told in flashback, as Polly attempts to recover her lost memories of Tom Lynn and their times together. Polly's uncertainty of her past mirrors the instability of time and place in the novel. There are moments in which the fantastic and real worlds seem to collide for Polly, so that she is almost living in two different times at the same moment. By using the flashback technique, Jones enables Polly to remember and define her past, bit by bit. It is only as Polly remembers what has happened—only as she stabilizes time by putting the pieces of her past together—that the threat of Laurel and Mr. Leroy becomes clearer to her.

Jones bases key elements of her story, particularly plot and character, on the ballads "Thomas the Rhymer" and "Tam Lin." The Scottish legends have been...