I admit this is one of the books where the cover caught my eye long before I knew what the story was about. The fact that it was a early 1900s alternate universe where fairies exist in the Victorian era was more than a bonus, but yet another factor that drew me to this novel.
A curmudgeonly professor journeys to a small town in the far north to study faerie folklore and discovers dark fae magic, friendship, and love in the start of a heartwarming and enchanting new fantasy series.
Cambridge professor 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 encyclopaedia of faerie lore. But Emily Wilde is not good at people. She could never make small talk at a party--or even get invited to one. And she prefers the company of her books, her dog, and the Fair Folk.
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, who manages to charm the townsfolk, get in the middle of Emily's research, and utterly confound and frustrate her.
But as Emily gets closer and closer to uncovering the secrets of the Hidden Ones--the most elusive of all faeries--lurking in the shadowy forest outside the town, 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.Summary from Goodreads
My Review
In a word, this novel was delightful. Emily was a character both funny and interesting, and following along on her adventures was a fun ride. Not only is the cover beautiful, but so is the writing, and I often found myself able to picture the stark snowy landscapes or visceral magical descriptions of eldritch creatures and persons with a clarity that was cinematic.
The relationship between Emily and her erstwhile academic rival, Bambleby brought a droll tone to the novel. Bambleby was both hilarious and frustrating, and his charm was more often in his inability to hide his secret (no spoilers here) than from a quirk of personality.
The story both reminded me of Elizabeth Peter’s most beloved characters, Amelia Peabody, and Patricia A. McKillip’s style of fantasy that harkens back to the old fairy tales and legends.
I did enjoy this so much that I immediately picked up the second novel, Map of the Otherlands, which advertises more genteel hijinks and mysterious fey.
If you like the cozy aspects of fantasy but want a little bit of edge, with some Victorian mores thrown in, this is the perfect fantasy series for you.