Historical fantasy novel about field research on faeries
With my garden overrun by couch grass and running on hold for now, I was in need of a good audiobook to listen to while I tried to get on top of weeding and this one was the next set book for my fantasy book club.
“Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries” by Heather Fawcett and narrated by Ell Potter and Michael Dodds is a historical fantasy novel set in 1909 in rural Norway. Scholar Emily Wilde has arrived in the remote village of Hrafnsvik to conduct field research for her latest project: an encyclopaedia of faerie lore. Although Emily is a talented academic, she is a bit lacking in people skills and struggles to connect with the locals of Hrafnsvik and make headway on her research. However, when her handsome, charming and infuriating rival Wendell Bambleby arrives in town, she reluctantly joins forces with him to search for the elusive Hidden Ones. It will take all of Emily’s knowledge and Bambleby’s charm to achieve their goals, however the more they work together, the more Emily realises that Bambleby has secrets of his own.
This is a fun story that blends adventure, folklore, romance and academia in the beautiful but bleak winter setting of northern Scandinavia. There are a lot elements in this book, but the plot never feels cluttered and Fawcett weaves them together smoothly. Bambleby in particular was a delightful character and I really liked how his character grew in complexity as the story progressed, and his otherworldly charisma is offset by quaint hobbies and quirks like sewing and darning. I think for people who love fairy tales and folklore, the fantasy elements of this story will be very satisfying.
As enjoyable as the book was overall, I did find Emily’s character a little frustrating and inconsistent at times. While I appreciate that Emily is strongly suggested to be neurodiverse with difficulties anticipating and interpreting social interactions, and a special interest in faeries, I did feel that her ability to interpret and respond to faerie etiquette was a bit at odds with her apparent difficulties with other people. As much as I loved Bambleby, I wasn’t as enamoured with the suggestion that Emily needed Bambleby to form relationships with the locals. For the audiobook, even though I enjoyed Michael Dodds’ narration of Bambleby’s small number of chapters, I found the use of a different narrator a bit jarring.
A light-hearted and well-paced story with plenty to keep you hooked.
Tinted Edges 