Author: Hazel Gaynor
Publisher: HarperCollins
Year: 2017
Genre(s):historical fiction, contemporary fiction, romance
Part of a Series: No
Rating:
Why I read it: Once Upon a Book Club selection
Summary: After the death of her beloved grandfather, Olivia inherits his house and bookstore. Reeling from life changing events, she returns to Ireland from London and decides to figure out the next directions of her life. She finds inspiration from an unpublished manuscript she found in her grandfather’s store.
The manuscript was written by Frances Griffith and told the story of the photographs of fairies she and her cousin took in the English village of Cottingley. It is a girl’s coming of age tale, full of mystery and intrigue as well as a cautionary tale about how one little lie can snowball out of control.
Both Olivia and Frances find a little magic in their lives and it changes everything for them.
Review: I loved this book. I just wish we had more Olivia. At times, it seemed like Gaynor was writing two books, didn’t think she had enough for one and so mashed them together and didn’t really balance them out. However, one did inform the other, so that was done very well.
We have two protagonists—Olivia and Frances. Both are intriguing but very different heroines. They actually seem to be two sides of the same coin. Olivia is someone who has been bogged down by reality and who finds herself changed when she lets some magic into her life. Frances also finds her life changed when she lets in some magic but ends up bogged down by reality. (Also Olivia is an adult and Frances a child, but that ultimately doesn’t matter too much in the grand scheme of things). Each finds her own way to happiness, taking journeys that mirror each other at times.
Frances’ story takes up most of the book, which leads me to wonder if Gaynor really wanted to write about her and her cousin Elsie but worried she wouldn’t have enough for a novel. Had she fleshed it out a bit, really delved into some of the characters, I think it could’ve been its own novel—and a good one at that. Because Frances’ story was good. I would’ve loved to have read it more in detail, about the young girl who discovers fairies and in an attempt to prove she’s not just being lazy, ends up creating a phenomenon. All she wants to be is normal and to live her life, but she keeps getting drawn back to the beck and the fairies.
Olivia’s parts were interesting as well. She’s a woman who is about to get married when her grandfather dies, leaving her his bookshop in Ireland. It gives her something to focus on that isn’t her wedding as she’s also been given a surprising medical diagnosis that could affect her relationship with her fiancé. The distance makes her realize that she doesn’t love him and that he really doesn’t love her, that their relationship is only superficial. She takes a hard look at her life and decides she doesn’t like what she sees so she sets about finding happiness again.
I would’ve loved to have seen more of her relationship with Ross Bailey, Writer, and his daughter Iris. I get that it wasn’t meant to be a romance novel, but even their friendship was just sweet and it would’ve been nice to see how that played a role in Olivia finding her happiness. I will admit I shipped them but I felt where the novel ends with them is a good thing. I just wished their relationship was fleshed out more. I wished Ross had been fleshed out more as he was an intriguing character.
Gaynor did a great job creating atmosphere, whether in Ireland, London or Cottingley. I could see the places she had set her story and almost felt the ocean breeze whenever Olivia went to the shore. It definitely added to the magic of the stories.
Bottom line: A good novel that probably could’ve been two great novels but definitely worth a read.
Sex: Nope.
Moonlight Musing
Do you believe in fairies?
No comments:
Post a Comment