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A review by briarwren
Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
5.0
I don't recall now when I originally came across this. I do know it was due to a review left on an ARC by a friend so possibly August of last year. I've apparently added it to my TBR multiple times since and it was well worth my patient wait.
I happily snagged it in a two for one sale at Audible along with another book that's long been on my pile so I admit I was absurdly pleased with myself that day. Which is perhaps why I began this so soon after purchase instead of letting it languish another year. Five stars for an excellent read and narrator.
“If anyone were to claim greater happiness in their careers than I do in poking about sunlit wildwoods for faerie footprints, I should not believe it.”
If I could have such a career I'd be ecstatic. I spent many a happy solitary day as a child poking about the forest for mushrooms, bits of bone, hobbit holes and gnome houses with a bag full of books. I still ramble miles most days with my dog and I've yearned nigh on thirty years to find a hidden portal or doorway to the other lands since I first closed the cover on The Hobbit in the 4th grade. I devoured books as a child once I discovered them because that's all I had in a small town that always relegated me to the fringes of the group awkwardly lurking in the shadows.
Which is probably why I persevered with this although I found Emily quite annoying and tedious at first. She had been so wrapped up in her studies she'd been overly reliant on her students to provide for her so it was a cruel wakeup when she arrived at her cottage with NO students and the need to do for herself...
I don't actually understand that one. Was she never the acolyte at her own teacher's knee and catering to their needs? Regardless of the fact that she's been in the field off and on for years but would hardly have merited a student of her own when she first began? Being so young and a WOMAN in Victorian times would have been held against her. She was so determined to succeed I would have found it more in character for her to not know how to do it well because she wouldn't devote the time to it when there is so much else for her to discover versus her being absolutely clueless.
"The Folk were of another world, with its own rules and customs—and to a child who always felt ill-suited to her own world, the lure was irresistible."
The more she talked however, and she certainly revealed more in her entries than she perhaps meant, the more I realized how misunderstood she was and her behavior was her mask. I'd be surprised if she weren't neurodivergent and her speculations on Bambleby's nature is actually what brought that to mind as well as how quickly she put the villagers backs up with no understanding how she did so although it was so obvious. Throw in her loquaciousness and awkward interactions it was understandable the few times this dragged slightly but I was quickly pulled back in.
"I wish to know the unknowable… To peel back the carpeting of the world and tumble into the stars."
I can't say what eventually hooked me but I'd been just far enough into it to happily turn it on when I headed out for a 6+ hour road trip for a weekend retreat full of spinners, knitters and dyers gathered at a secluded hot spring and completely coincidentally also the 20th of October. No snow for us yet, however, although it chased me home over the pass two days later. I completed this on the trip home and I felt slightly bereft which is perhaps when I realized I had The Hobbit downloaded I went back to my roots and began it again for the countless time.
"I could almost imagine myself a maiden in one of the stories, but stories didn’t leave dirty teacups scattered throughout the cottage, or underline passages in my books—in ink—no matter how many times I ordered them not to.”
I was enthralled with this and the hours flew by as I listened. I especially enjoyed the beautiful little extra tales she added in. My favorite involved the serving girl but I also much enjoyed the one with the cat. It's a good reminder to not presume you know all.
It was such a cozy read I could easily see myself curled up with this in a nest of blankets and a pile of katter with a mug of tea to hand and the wind howling but it had just enough of the dark that it wasn't too cozy. The fae aren't twee or sweet and we need that reminder. I even listened at the rest area when I stopped for lunch with the trees whispering around me and a far off train whistled.
I loved her description of the Market and her interactions with little Poe. Her depth of knowledge that allowed her to do what she did to save herself and others when so many had failed previously. Her glee when she realized connections others had only speculated about. Her shock and warmth when she realized the extent of feeling surrounding her; she had made friends. Even the light romance hinted at in the very beginning that had been there all along although she hadn't seen it.
This is one book I could easily add to my limited shelf space and I can't wait to read the next one.
I happily snagged it in a two for one sale at Audible along with another book that's long been on my pile so I admit I was absurdly pleased with myself that day. Which is perhaps why I began this so soon after purchase instead of letting it languish another year. Five stars for an excellent read and narrator.
“If anyone were to claim greater happiness in their careers than I do in poking about sunlit wildwoods for faerie footprints, I should not believe it.”
If I could have such a career I'd be ecstatic. I spent many a happy solitary day as a child poking about the forest for mushrooms, bits of bone, hobbit holes and gnome houses with a bag full of books. I still ramble miles most days with my dog and I've yearned nigh on thirty years to find a hidden portal or doorway to the other lands since I first closed the cover on The Hobbit in the 4th grade. I devoured books as a child once I discovered them because that's all I had in a small town that always relegated me to the fringes of the group awkwardly lurking in the shadows.
Which is probably why I persevered with this although I found Emily quite annoying and tedious at first. She had been so wrapped up in her studies she'd been overly reliant on her students to provide for her so it was a cruel wakeup when she arrived at her cottage with NO students and the need to do for herself...
I don't actually understand that one. Was she never the acolyte at her own teacher's knee and catering to their needs? Regardless of the fact that she's been in the field off and on for years but would hardly have merited a student of her own when she first began? Being so young and a WOMAN in Victorian times would have been held against her. She was so determined to succeed I would have found it more in character for her to not know how to do it well because she wouldn't devote the time to it when there is so much else for her to discover versus her being absolutely clueless.
"The Folk were of another world, with its own rules and customs—and to a child who always felt ill-suited to her own world, the lure was irresistible."
The more she talked however, and she certainly revealed more in her entries than she perhaps meant, the more I realized how misunderstood she was and her behavior was her mask. I'd be surprised if she weren't neurodivergent and her speculations on Bambleby's nature is actually what brought that to mind as well as how quickly she put the villagers backs up with no understanding how she did so although it was so obvious. Throw in her loquaciousness and awkward interactions it was understandable the few times this dragged slightly but I was quickly pulled back in.
"I wish to know the unknowable… To peel back the carpeting of the world and tumble into the stars."
I can't say what eventually hooked me but I'd been just far enough into it to happily turn it on when I headed out for a 6+ hour road trip for a weekend retreat full of spinners, knitters and dyers gathered at a secluded hot spring and completely coincidentally also the 20th of October. No snow for us yet, however, although it chased me home over the pass two days later. I completed this on the trip home and I felt slightly bereft which is perhaps when I realized I had The Hobbit downloaded I went back to my roots and began it again for the countless time.
"I could almost imagine myself a maiden in one of the stories, but stories didn’t leave dirty teacups scattered throughout the cottage, or underline passages in my books—in ink—no matter how many times I ordered them not to.”
I was enthralled with this and the hours flew by as I listened. I especially enjoyed the beautiful little extra tales she added in. My favorite involved the serving girl but I also much enjoyed the one with the cat. It's a good reminder to not presume you know all.
It was such a cozy read I could easily see myself curled up with this in a nest of blankets and a pile of katter with a mug of tea to hand and the wind howling but it had just enough of the dark that it wasn't too cozy. The fae aren't twee or sweet and we need that reminder. I even listened at the rest area when I stopped for lunch with the trees whispering around me and a far off train whistled.
I loved her description of the Market and her interactions with little Poe. Her depth of knowledge that allowed her to do what she did to save herself and others when so many had failed previously. Her glee when she realized connections others had only speculated about. Her shock and warmth when she realized the extent of feeling surrounding her; she had made friends. Even the light romance hinted at in the very beginning that had been there all along although she hadn't seen it.
This is one book I could easily add to my limited shelf space and I can't wait to read the next one.