Irish folklore and superstitions - about fairies, witches, and the like - form the core of this charming novel.
****
In 1882, Anglo-Irish Lord Hawley decided to build a manor house for his new wife in a woodland in western Ireland. A gnarled old hawthorn tree, a fairy tree, grew in the middle of the woodland, and a seeress warned that "misfortune would befall any man who so much as scarred the twisted bark."
Lord Hawley pooh-poohed these 'superstitions', cleared the land, and constructed a mansion called Thornwood House.
A few years later Lord Hawley's wife had a difficult pregnancy and gave birth to twins - George and Olivia - whom Lady Hawley insisted weren't her children. The seeress knew this meant the Good People [fairies] "had exacted their revenge by taking the human children and replacing them with evil, sickly souls." Keep this in mind, because we'll meet George and Olivia again, when they're grown.
From here, the story proceeds in two alternating timelines, 2010 and 1910.
Towards the end of 2010, after a difficult period in their three-year marriage, New York residents Sarah and Jack Harper decide to divorce. Sarah sends her possessions ahead, and makes plans to fly to Boston, where her family lives.
Before Sarah boards her plane to Boston, she's browsing through an airport shop called 'The Emerald Isle Gift Store', where she buys a bottle of whiskey and an Irish newspaper.
The Irish tabloid's headline reads: THE FAIRY TREE THAT MOVED A MOTORWAY. The accompanying story is about a motorway in a town called Thornwood, in Clare County, whose route was changed to protect a very beautiful hawthorn tree. (The Emerald Islanders apparently learned from Lord Hawley's mistake.) In any case, Sarah impulsively changes her plans and boards a plane for Ireland.
Sarah is embraced by the people of Clare County and soon finds herself ensconced in a cozy domicile, called Butler's Cottage, for her visit.
During a brisk nighttime walk Sarah finds a diary in the hollow of a tree, whose cover reads 'The Diary of Anna Butler.'
Anna's entries begins on Saint Stephen's Day (December 26), 1910, and reveal that she was an 18-year-old farm girl who lived in Butler's Cottage with her parents and three brothers.
Sarah is VERY drawn to Anna's diary, and immerses herself in the entries. Sarah reads a few pages of the journal at a time, between her day to day activities.
Anna begins her 1910 journal with descriptions of Christmas festivities, then mentions meeting a young American scholar called Harold Griffin-Krauss.
Harold's bicycle gets two flat tires near Butler's Cottage, and he comes to the door to request assistance. Anna's father helps fix the bicycle, then tea is served, and Harold explains that his mother is Irish, and he's an anthropology student at Oxford, studying Celtic folklore - particularly fairies. Harold has traveled around Scotland, Wales, Cornwall in the south of England, the Isle of Man, and Brittany in northern France, and Ireland is his last stop before returning to Oxford.
Harold goes on to explain, "Some people are happy to discuss their experiences, but many are wary of a foreigner asking questions. So, in each area I visit, I try to hire a local person to help me with my interviews." The upshot is that Anna is hired to accompany Harold on his interviews, and to translate Gaelic into English when necessary. As Anna and Harold work together, a strong friendship develops.
During Harold's interviews he records numerous fascinating tales about the fairy folk and other magical creatures, who are real to many people in County Clare, including Anna herself. Some of these tales are frightening, such as one about a man who thought his wife had been turned into a witch, so he burned her to death. The husband thought the witch would fly up the chimney, and his real wife would return. (She didn't.) Anna is appalled by tales like this.
On their perambulations, Anna and Harold come across Lord Hawley's (now grown) 'evil twins', George and Olivia, who live in luxurious Thornwood House, ride fine horses, wear elegant clothes, have handsome carriages, throw lavish parties, and so on.
Anna is enthralled by handsome George, and though she knows it's impossible, Anna fantasizes about George being her beau. This leads to big trouble.
Interspersed with Anna's 1910 diary entries are chapters about modern Sarah's life in Thornwood. Sarah's activities include a lot of lone drinking, and grieving over a sad incident that haunts her. Though Sarah thinks about her Boston family and her estranged husband, she allows herself to be drawn out by some of the locals, including a hotel manager and his lady love; a kindly grandfather; and especially County Clare's conservation officer, Oran Sweeney and his teenage daughter Hazel, who also have a tragedy in their past.
During one afternoon outing, Sarah and Oran even climb over a fence and break into Thornwood House, which is now a derelict structure where no one lives.
As things turn out, the fairy folk may have drawn Sarah to Clare Country, because Sarah, Oran, and Hazel help each other heal their wounds and move on.
For me, the 1910 timeline is more compelling, with tales of life in rural Ireland;
Irish lads striving for Irish independence;
and the Irish folklore recorded by Harold Griffin-Krauss.
Fairy Fort in Ireland
We learn that Harold later publishes his collection of Irish tales in a book called 'The Fairy Compendium', which is read by Sarah and Hazel.
In her acknowledgments, author Evie Woods notes that 'The Story Collector' was inspired by the 'real Harold', Walter Evans-Wentz, "who came to [Ireland] in search of the mystic and captured all of Ireland's beauty and mystery."
Walter Evans-Wentz
I enjoyed the novel, especially the Irish legends and fables, and highly recommend the book to readers interested in the subject.
Thanks to Netgalley, Evie Woods, and Harper 360 for a copy of the book.
No comments:
Post a Comment