From the publisher: “Emily Wilde is good at many things: she is the foremost expert on the study of faeries; she is a genius scholar and a meticulous researcher who is writing the world’s first encylopaedia of faerie lore. But Emily Wilde is not good at people.
So when she arrives in the hardscrabble village of Hrafnsvik, Emily has no intention of befriending the gruff townsfolk. Nor does she care to spend time with another new arrival: her dashing and insufferably handsome academic rival Wendell Bambleby.
But as Emily gets closer to uncovering the secrets of the Hidden Ones – the most elusive of all faeries – she also finds herself on the trail of another mystery: who is Wendell Bambleby, and what does he really want? To find the answer, she’ll have to unlock the greatest mystery of all – her own heart.”
Emily is grumpy and introverted, an academic who hasn’t got time for people, who would rather sit at the back of a tavern and read whilst others are enjoying themselves. But this is not a book of torrid lust, more a story of academic endeavour, magical history and a growing passion romance.
This one reads a little like the old TV series Northern Exposure but set not in Alaska but in Scandinavia, with a magical backstory. Like that TV series there’s even an engaging group of locals whose customs seem rather odd, even in a land where Faeries live. Along the way there’s folk stories and traditions that Emily records in order to add to her theses.
It is perhaps this aspect of the story that I enjoyed most. As an inveterate scholar, Emily’s narrative is filled with folklore, with stories and examples from history on what to do and not to do when encountering creatures such as oichre sidhe and changelings. The folklore is what initially sold the book to me, which seems based on old traditions, and seems quite plausible in its world-setting.
What may become the book’s most endearing quality however is that all of this is told in a tone that seems to be constantly amused – both by Wendell, who is not what he seems, of course, and by Emily herself, whose exasperation at Wendell and as a consequence of her introverted academic manner was both recognisable and a little too close for comfort for me. The romance between Wendell and Emily is nicely done, and lightly developed, as rivalry and friendship turn into a romance. It’s cute and not too slushy, and actually quite endearing, as Emily becomes the object of another’s affections in the latter part of the novel.
Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries is a charming book, with folklore to discover and characters you’ll get to love, set in an intriguingly ambiguous landscape. I found it irresistible once I started reading: a lightly romantic story filled with fae folk and lore.
In short, Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries is a book for those not wanting to dwell in the darkness and shadows of Winter, but read something mildly amusing and pleasantly life-affirming. I suggest you add a nice quilt and a hot drink to fully appreciate this one – as I type this in December and in the depths of winter, it might just be what we all need!
Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett
Published by Orbit Books, January 2023
ISBN: 978 035 6519 128
338 pages
Review by Mark Yon
