★ The Fair Folk

Su Bristow, Europa Editions (JAN 23) Softcover $18 (464pp) 979-888966012-5

A lonely girl peeks beyond the veil, ensuring a childhood of wonder and silence, in Su Bristow’s enchanting novel The Fair Folk.

Felicity’s earliest memories are of peering up from her baby carriage at the fairy faces grinning down at her from the foliage above. There was not much such magic available to her on her languishing family farm; thus, she spent her formative years trying to coax that attention back. And in time, it worked: the fae let her in. Felicity ducked under a hedge and gathered with gorgeous Elfrida and her band of mischievous fae around fires through enchanted nights, clothed in impossible garments; she was allowed to peek at, but not move toward, Onward, from where fairies never return. Someday, she was told, she might be allowed to stay forever.

But then Felicity made a bargain with Elfrida and became one more human reminder that fairy magic always carries unknown, often grave, costs.

In time, Felicity left the farm for Cambridge; Elfrida and Hob tagged along, unseen by all but her. They played tricks on others and interfered with her days; she was forbidden to speak of them to anyone. Her introductions to Sebastian and to a professor experienced with fae represented two possible paths forward—the first promised love, the second answers. For the first time, Felicity dared to wonder what Elfrida truly wanted from their bargain.

Twining classic fairy lore with a modern story of an aching girlhood and first love, The Fair Folk is an enthralling novel filled with breathtaking revelations. At every turn, its heroine is reminded anew that a wish granted is not often a dream come true; still, she persists in trusting her ethereal friends, certain that her belief in magic beyond imagining will cushion her in the end.