Professor Emily Wilde, a dyradologist, has come to a remote island off the coast of Norway to study the Hidden Folk as part of the preparation of her encyclopedia on the fairies. Emily is a well respected researcher, but she finds people difficult. She is happiest alone with her dog Shadow and a good book.
The remoteness of island should keep people at bay, but shortly she is joined by her only friend and academic rival, Professor Wendell Bambleby. Wendell is everything Emily is not and soon he has the villagers enjoying his company. However, Emily and Wendell are there for serious research and as they pursue their objective rather frightening things begin to happen.
This is a delightful book. It takes place in 1909 and the author has done an excellent job making Emily’s diary entries true to the period. Emily and Wendell are good foils for each other. He annoys her, but she can’t help responding to him. Their banter is amusing and gives the story a light tone.
The book is a good combination of fantasy, romance, and mystery with scholarly overtones provided by the footnotes Emily appends to her diary entries. Emily is a very self contained character while Wendell is much more outgoing even chaotic. They make an interesting pair. I thought it was an excellent combination. Since this is the first book in a series, I’m looking forward to meeting them again in a new adventure.
If you enjoy romance, and fantasy with some mystery in a historical setting, you’ll love this book.
I received this book from Penguin Random House for this review.
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