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The Story Collector
In a quiet village in Ireland, a mysterious local myth is about to change everything…
One hundred years ago, Anna, a young farm girl, volunteers to help an intriguing American visitor translate fairy stories from Irish to English. But all is not as it seems and Anna soon finds herself at the heart of a mystery that threatens her very way of life.
In New York in the present day, Sarah Harper boards a plane bound for the West Coast of Ireland. But once there, she finds she has unearthed dark secrets – secrets that tread the line between the everyday and the otherworldly, the seen and the unseen.
With a taste for the magical in everyday life, Evie Woods's latest novel is full of ordinary characters with extraordinary tales to tell.
One hundred years ago, Anna, a young farm girl, volunteers to help an intriguing American visitor translate fairy stories from Irish to English. But all is not as it seems and Anna soon finds herself at the heart of a mystery that threatens her very way of life.
In New York in the present day, Sarah Harper boards a plane bound for the West Coast of Ireland. But once there, she finds she has unearthed dark secrets – secrets that tread the line between the everyday and the otherworldly, the seen and the unseen.
With a taste for the magical in everyday life, Evie Woods's latest novel is full of ordinary characters with extraordinary tales to tell.
384 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 14, 2018
About the author
Evie Gaughan
7 books741 followersEvie Gaughan is a writer and artist living in Galway City, beside the sea. Her books are a mix of genres, incorporating her love of history and a penchant for magic in the everyday.
Evie also writes under the pseudonym Evie Woods and her fourth novel, The Lost Bookshop, has become a Sunday Times Bestseller and was shortlisted for a British Book Award.
One More Chapter (Harper Collins) will publish all of Evie's backlist, beginning with The Story Collector which will be published in July 2024.
Evie also writes under the pseudonym Evie Woods and her fourth novel, The Lost Bookshop, has become a Sunday Times Bestseller and was shortlisted for a British Book Award.
One More Chapter (Harper Collins) will publish all of Evie's backlist, beginning with The Story Collector which will be published in July 2024.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,058 reviews
July 3, 2024
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4.5 Stars
This was such a magical read. It's about a woman named Sara going on an impromptu trip to Ireland and she ends up healing herself from "the terrible thing". The story takes place in two different timelines one is Sara in 2011 and she finds Anna's diary written in 1911. Even though they're a hundred years apart they have a lot in common and the two timelines flowed seamlessly.
As is usual with me and my preferences I liked the older timeline much more. I think part of the reason was because I didn't like Sara. And even though she went through something awful I felt no sympathy for her. Anna on the other hand grabbed my heart. What a hard thing she went through, things were so very different back then, especially for women and the underclass. I enjoyed being on the adventure of learning about the faeries with Anna and Harold. I loved being in Ireland, back in the very early twentieth century, with these characters.
This would have been a five star read for me but I didn't like that Sara had a romance. The last thing Sara should be doing is getting into a new relationship. She's an alcoholic and has just left her husband the day before she arrived in Ireland. Why couldn't she have just found herself and become a strong woman who finally finds her passion? Why did romance have to be in the equation at all? Do we need a man to be happy and move forward?
All in all, I really enjoyed this read and could have read an entire book on Anna and Harold alone. I have The Lost Bookshop by this author on my TBR, I'll have to bump it up the list.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the Advance Readers Copy.
The Book Review Crew Blog
4.5 Stars
This was such a magical read. It's about a woman named Sara going on an impromptu trip to Ireland and she ends up healing herself from "the terrible thing". The story takes place in two different timelines one is Sara in 2011 and she finds Anna's diary written in 1911. Even though they're a hundred years apart they have a lot in common and the two timelines flowed seamlessly.
As is usual with me and my preferences I liked the older timeline much more. I think part of the reason was because I didn't like Sara. And even though she went through something awful I felt no sympathy for her. Anna on the other hand grabbed my heart. What a hard thing she went through, things were so very different back then, especially for women and the underclass. I enjoyed being on the adventure of learning about the faeries with Anna and Harold. I loved being in Ireland, back in the very early twentieth century, with these characters.
This would have been a five star read for me but I didn't like that Sara had a romance. The last thing Sara should be doing is getting into a new relationship. She's an alcoholic and has just left her husband the day before she arrived in Ireland. Why couldn't she have just found herself and become a strong woman who finally finds her passion? Why did romance have to be in the equation at all? Do we need a man to be happy and move forward?
All in all, I really enjoyed this read and could have read an entire book on Anna and Harold alone. I have The Lost Bookshop by this author on my TBR, I'll have to bump it up the list.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the Advance Readers Copy.
August 16, 2024
In a Nutshell: A dual-timeline novel containing history, mystery, and magic. The premise of this was perfect for my taste, but the writing approach and the character development didn’t work for me. This is an outlier review.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Plot Preview:
Bookish Yays:
😍 The little Irish village and the quaint Irish charm and the magical Irish folklore with the non-Tinkerbell-like fairies. I loved everything connected to the place and the Celtic/Irish lore.
😍 A few of the secondary characters, especially Hazel, were interesting.
😍 The cover art is stunning!
Bookish Mixed Bags:
😐 The prologue is excellent, offering an interesting titbit about Thornwood House. As I love the presence of Gothic houses in historical fiction, I geared up for a fun journey ahead. Imagine my disappointment when I found that the house barely has an active role, and even when it does come up, the focus is more on its two denizens than on creating an atmosphere.
😐 Anna is a confused teen in terms of her romantic feelings. The switcheroo between romantic interest 1 and romantic interest 2 happens almost abruptly and multiple times. Of course, at eighteen, she is expected to be somewhat impulsive, so I can probably ignore this. But I cannot overlook her inaccurate character development. Her knowledge is much more than what a poor Irish farm girl of the early 1900s would have. She’s never heard or seen any American but she knows that Harold has a strong American accent the moment he speaks. Lines such as "It tickled me when he did such American things" are odd when she doesn’t know any other American to know what “American things” are. Another example is how she has no idea what wine is but she recognises champagne immediately. There are too many inconsistencies in her character detailing.
😐 The book is titled ‘The Story Collector’, which, strictly speaking, is Harold. However, he is more of a second lead in the historical timeline and is only referred to briefly in the contemporary timeline. Anna’s role is more prominent in both timelines thanks to her diary being the connector. I guess that Anna, as the story collector’s assistant and translator, could also be called a ‘story collector’, but it would be a stretch.
😐 The plot in both timelines is mostly typical except for the investigation of fairy stories, which is anyway in the background. The main content is more about romance, “feelings”, grief and loss in both timelines, basically more of women’s fiction except for the fantastical parts. The fairy stories are excellent, so I wish there had been a lot more of these.
😐 The link between two timelines is Anna’s diary, which reveals the past fairy mysteries and Harold’s story collection endeavours to the contemporary characters. But other than the fact that Sarah is reading Anna’s diary, there is barely any firm connection between 1910 and 2011. Characters who make an appearance in both timelines are obviously minimal thanks to the time lag, and those who do, do so without any explanation provided. As always, the past timeline is better, but only because of the fairy lore.
😐 I liked the ending for one timeline but not for the other. Can’t tell you which one and why – spoilers.
Bookish Nays:
🙄 This is a huge pet peeve of mine, so maybe it won’t bother other readers. But I absolutely hate it when a “diary” is written more like a novel than like a personal journal. Anna's “diary” is a novel by itself, replete with back-and-forth conversations and needless descriptions. Imagine reading this in a diary: “‘Good morning, Miss!’ he called out […] ‘Good morning,’ I replied.” What diary is written this way?
Anna also lists down all the general practices and beliefs of her village, as if she meant to publish her diary for outsiders to read and hence felt the need to include explanations. She even introduces characters as "Tadhg Fox, Tess's father", Were it an actual diary meant only for her eyes, she obviously wouldn’t need to provide details on who Tadhg Fox was. The worst of it was seeing the miscommunication trope come multiple times even in a diary, when one character is about to say something and is immediately interrupted by something else and what he wanted to say is forgotten. All this was very distracting to me, and as half the book comes from Anna’s “diary”, I simply couldn’t enjoy the experience.
🙄 Alcoholic protagonist who denies that she has an alcohol problem – another pet peeve.
🙄 Sarah’s story in the contemporary timeline should have felt more poignant, but ends up as a hodgepodge mess. She is an alcoholic in denial, but she is also grieving over a past tragedy. She is upset about her broken marriage but she doesn’t hesitate to jump into a new relationship. She has a family but they make barely any appearance in the entire story, not even through phone calls. It was a strangely isolated kind of narration, where I felt like Sarah was used mainly so that Anna’s diary could be found. Other than that, Sarah’s story and her timeline has nothing original. The novel would have worked perfectly even without Sarah’s track.
🙄 As always, the road to a woman’s happiness is through a new romantic relationship, even when the chemistry is barely there. Why can’t happiness for a modern woman come from moving on and taking charge of her life than from having a new man in her life?
🙄 There is unwarranted animal cruelty in the book. I’d have put this only under content warnings had the content been necessary, but that scene was just not required by the core plot. The graphic content could have easily been dialled down, or even removed.
🙄 There is an infodump of an epilogue, with a hurried tie-up of the contemporary timeline and a hasty explanation of what happens in the historical timeline.
I've read this author’s 2023 novel, ‘The Lost Bookshop’, and liked it much better than this one. I remember writing in my review for that book that it will “ work better if you read it with your heart than with your head.” I tried to follow the same advice this time around, but my heart and my head both refused to cooperate, mainly because of the non-diary-like diary, the needless romantic arcs, and the mostly typical storyline.
I had assumed this book to be the author’s latest, but it turns out, this book was originally published in 2018. Perhaps the success of ‘The Lost Bookshop’ led to a revival of this earlier novel. I am not sure if this is an updated version, but even if there were revisions, they obviously didn’t work for me.
Mine is very much an outlier review, so it is quite possible that you would enjoy this book more. Please read through the other positive reviews and take a more informed decision.
If I have to recommend this, I’d suggest it to clean romance readers and women’s fiction readers who don’t mind a dash of fantasy.
2 stars, mainly for the fairy lore.
My thanks to Harper 360 for providing the DRC of “The Story Collector” via NetGalley. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book. Sorry this didn’t work out better.
Content Warnings: Violent animal cruelty, (attempted) rape, miscarriage/stillbirth, death, grief, alcohol addiction.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Connect with me through:
My Blog || The StoryGraph || Instagram || X/Twitter || Facebook ||
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Plot Preview:
2010. New Yorker Sarah, in a hasty drunken decision after the end of her marriage, cancels her flight to her sister’s place in Boston and lands in Ireland instead. Once sober, she, though horrified, decides to make the best of her time in Ireland and ponder over her next step. But when she discovers a century-old diary, she discovers some unexpected secrets.
A hundred years ago, eighteen-year-old farm girl Anna is thrilled when Harold, a visiting American academician, asks her to be his assistant in speaking with the locals as he is collecting Irish fairy stories for his research project. But as the two of them learn more stories, they discover that real life is much darker and dangerous.
The story comes to us over the two timelines, in the third-person perspective of Sarah for the contemporary timeline and through Anna’s first-person narration in her diary.
Bookish Yays:
😍 The little Irish village and the quaint Irish charm and the magical Irish folklore with the non-Tinkerbell-like fairies. I loved everything connected to the place and the Celtic/Irish lore.
😍 A few of the secondary characters, especially Hazel, were interesting.
😍 The cover art is stunning!
Bookish Mixed Bags:
😐 The prologue is excellent, offering an interesting titbit about Thornwood House. As I love the presence of Gothic houses in historical fiction, I geared up for a fun journey ahead. Imagine my disappointment when I found that the house barely has an active role, and even when it does come up, the focus is more on its two denizens than on creating an atmosphere.
😐 Anna is a confused teen in terms of her romantic feelings. The switcheroo between romantic interest 1 and romantic interest 2 happens almost abruptly and multiple times. Of course, at eighteen, she is expected to be somewhat impulsive, so I can probably ignore this. But I cannot overlook her inaccurate character development. Her knowledge is much more than what a poor Irish farm girl of the early 1900s would have. She’s never heard or seen any American but she knows that Harold has a strong American accent the moment he speaks. Lines such as "It tickled me when he did such American things" are odd when she doesn’t know any other American to know what “American things” are. Another example is how she has no idea what wine is but she recognises champagne immediately. There are too many inconsistencies in her character detailing.
😐 The book is titled ‘The Story Collector’, which, strictly speaking, is Harold. However, he is more of a second lead in the historical timeline and is only referred to briefly in the contemporary timeline. Anna’s role is more prominent in both timelines thanks to her diary being the connector. I guess that Anna, as the story collector’s assistant and translator, could also be called a ‘story collector’, but it would be a stretch.
😐 The plot in both timelines is mostly typical except for the investigation of fairy stories, which is anyway in the background. The main content is more about romance, “feelings”, grief and loss in both timelines, basically more of women’s fiction except for the fantastical parts. The fairy stories are excellent, so I wish there had been a lot more of these.
😐 The link between two timelines is Anna’s diary, which reveals the past fairy mysteries and Harold’s story collection endeavours to the contemporary characters. But other than the fact that Sarah is reading Anna’s diary, there is barely any firm connection between 1910 and 2011. Characters who make an appearance in both timelines are obviously minimal thanks to the time lag, and those who do, do so without any explanation provided. As always, the past timeline is better, but only because of the fairy lore.
😐 I liked the ending for one timeline but not for the other. Can’t tell you which one and why – spoilers.
Bookish Nays:
🙄 This is a huge pet peeve of mine, so maybe it won’t bother other readers. But I absolutely hate it when a “diary” is written more like a novel than like a personal journal. Anna's “diary” is a novel by itself, replete with back-and-forth conversations and needless descriptions. Imagine reading this in a diary: “‘Good morning, Miss!’ he called out […] ‘Good morning,’ I replied.” What diary is written this way?
Anna also lists down all the general practices and beliefs of her village, as if she meant to publish her diary for outsiders to read and hence felt the need to include explanations. She even introduces characters as "Tadhg Fox, Tess's father", Were it an actual diary meant only for her eyes, she obviously wouldn’t need to provide details on who Tadhg Fox was. The worst of it was seeing the miscommunication trope come multiple times even in a diary, when one character is about to say something and is immediately interrupted by something else and what he wanted to say is forgotten. All this was very distracting to me, and as half the book comes from Anna’s “diary”, I simply couldn’t enjoy the experience.
🙄 Alcoholic protagonist who denies that she has an alcohol problem – another pet peeve.
🙄 Sarah’s story in the contemporary timeline should have felt more poignant, but ends up as a hodgepodge mess. She is an alcoholic in denial, but she is also grieving over a past tragedy. She is upset about her broken marriage but she doesn’t hesitate to jump into a new relationship. She has a family but they make barely any appearance in the entire story, not even through phone calls. It was a strangely isolated kind of narration, where I felt like Sarah was used mainly so that Anna’s diary could be found. Other than that, Sarah’s story and her timeline has nothing original. The novel would have worked perfectly even without Sarah’s track.
🙄 As always, the road to a woman’s happiness is through a new romantic relationship, even when the chemistry is barely there. Why can’t happiness for a modern woman come from moving on and taking charge of her life than from having a new man in her life?
🙄 There is unwarranted animal cruelty in the book. I’d have put this only under content warnings had the content been necessary, but that scene was just not required by the core plot. The graphic content could have easily been dialled down, or even removed.
🙄 There is an infodump of an epilogue, with a hurried tie-up of the contemporary timeline and a hasty explanation of what happens in the historical timeline.
I've read this author’s 2023 novel, ‘The Lost Bookshop’, and liked it much better than this one. I remember writing in my review for that book that it will “ work better if you read it with your heart than with your head.” I tried to follow the same advice this time around, but my heart and my head both refused to cooperate, mainly because of the non-diary-like diary, the needless romantic arcs, and the mostly typical storyline.
I had assumed this book to be the author’s latest, but it turns out, this book was originally published in 2018. Perhaps the success of ‘The Lost Bookshop’ led to a revival of this earlier novel. I am not sure if this is an updated version, but even if there were revisions, they obviously didn’t work for me.
Mine is very much an outlier review, so it is quite possible that you would enjoy this book more. Please read through the other positive reviews and take a more informed decision.
If I have to recommend this, I’d suggest it to clean romance readers and women’s fiction readers who don’t mind a dash of fantasy.
2 stars, mainly for the fairy lore.
My thanks to Harper 360 for providing the DRC of “The Story Collector” via NetGalley. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book. Sorry this didn’t work out better.
Content Warnings: Violent animal cruelty, (attempted) rape, miscarriage/stillbirth, death, grief, alcohol addiction.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Connect with me through:
My Blog || The StoryGraph || Instagram || X/Twitter || Facebook ||
July 29, 2024
3.75⭐
With elements of historical fiction, folklore magical realism and contemporary love story, The Story Collector by Evie Woods is a beautifully written novel.
Christmas Day, NYC, 2010: While waiting to board a flight to Boston to spend the holidays with her sister’s family, Sarah Harper is intrigued by a newspaper article on the ‘lore of a beautiful hawthorn tree in County Clare, Ireland. On an impulse, she decides to hop on a flight to Ireland and eventually ends up renting a cottage, Butler’s Cottage, in the same vicinity as the tree. Sarah is dealing with the collapse of her marriage and grieving a personal loss and hopes to find solace in the quiet setting of the cottage amid the beautiful surroundings. While exploring the area, she comes upon an old diary from 1910, belonging to Anne Butler. From Anne’s diary, Sarah not only learns about Anna’s family and her dreams and the history of Thornwood House, the ruins of which are still standing, and local folklore but she also gets to know about American researcher Harold Griffin-Krauss, who engaged Anna’s assistance to interact with locals for his thesis on the fairy faith in Celtic countries. As the narrative progresses, Sarah finds herself motivated to find out more about Anne and is inspired by her story to take stock of her own life and embark on a cathartic journey of healing and hope.
The prose is elegant and the author writes with compassion, emotional depth and a keen sense of time and place, deftly weaving past and present timelines into an engaging narrative. I loved the vivid setting and appreciated how folklore and stories of na Daoine Maithe were incorporated into the narrative.
The present-day story is told from Sarah’s perspective, with Anne’s story revealed through her journal entries interspersed throughout the narrative. Both Sarah and Anne are well-fleshed-out characters and I enjoyed getting to know Harold (whose character was inspired by American anthropologist and writer W. Y. Evans-Wentz). I wish the narrative had included more stories from his research. The secondary characters were also well thought out and I loved how the author depicted life in a quiet Irish village one hundred years apart. I’ll admit that I enjoyed the past timeline more than Sarah’s story. The romantic track in the present timeline felt unnecessary and wasn’t entirely convincing. I wish we had gotten to know more about both Anne and Harold (I prefer showing to telling). The past timeline was rushed toward the end and left me with a few unanswered questions. However, I did like how the author brought everything together and the ending, though bittersweet, was satisfying.
This is my second Evie Woods novel (I also enjoyed The Lost Bookshop) and I look forward to reading more from her in the future.
Many thanks to HarperCollins UK, One More Chapter for the digital review copy via NetGalley. All opinions expressed in this review are my own. This novel was published on July 18, 2024.
Connect with me! ✏ Instagram ✏ My Blog ✏ The StoryGraph
With elements of historical fiction, folklore magical realism and contemporary love story, The Story Collector by Evie Woods is a beautifully written novel.
Christmas Day, NYC, 2010: While waiting to board a flight to Boston to spend the holidays with her sister’s family, Sarah Harper is intrigued by a newspaper article on the ‘lore of a beautiful hawthorn tree in County Clare, Ireland. On an impulse, she decides to hop on a flight to Ireland and eventually ends up renting a cottage, Butler’s Cottage, in the same vicinity as the tree. Sarah is dealing with the collapse of her marriage and grieving a personal loss and hopes to find solace in the quiet setting of the cottage amid the beautiful surroundings. While exploring the area, she comes upon an old diary from 1910, belonging to Anne Butler. From Anne’s diary, Sarah not only learns about Anna’s family and her dreams and the history of Thornwood House, the ruins of which are still standing, and local folklore but she also gets to know about American researcher Harold Griffin-Krauss, who engaged Anna’s assistance to interact with locals for his thesis on the fairy faith in Celtic countries. As the narrative progresses, Sarah finds herself motivated to find out more about Anne and is inspired by her story to take stock of her own life and embark on a cathartic journey of healing and hope.
The prose is elegant and the author writes with compassion, emotional depth and a keen sense of time and place, deftly weaving past and present timelines into an engaging narrative. I loved the vivid setting and appreciated how folklore and stories of na Daoine Maithe were incorporated into the narrative.
The present-day story is told from Sarah’s perspective, with Anne’s story revealed through her journal entries interspersed throughout the narrative. Both Sarah and Anne are well-fleshed-out characters and I enjoyed getting to know Harold (whose character was inspired by American anthropologist and writer W. Y. Evans-Wentz). I wish the narrative had included more stories from his research. The secondary characters were also well thought out and I loved how the author depicted life in a quiet Irish village one hundred years apart. I’ll admit that I enjoyed the past timeline more than Sarah’s story. The romantic track in the present timeline felt unnecessary and wasn’t entirely convincing. I wish we had gotten to know more about both Anne and Harold (I prefer showing to telling). The past timeline was rushed toward the end and left me with a few unanswered questions. However, I did like how the author brought everything together and the ending, though bittersweet, was satisfying.
This is my second Evie Woods novel (I also enjoyed The Lost Bookshop) and I look forward to reading more from her in the future.
Many thanks to HarperCollins UK, One More Chapter for the digital review copy via NetGalley. All opinions expressed in this review are my own. This novel was published on July 18, 2024.
Connect with me! ✏ Instagram ✏ My Blog ✏ The StoryGraph
April 18, 2024
4-5 stars
Christmas Day 2010, New York City.
Sarah Harper’s marriage breaks down and instead of heading home to her family in Boston, she impulsively books a flight to Shannon in the Irish Republic. A midlife crisis? Maybe, but with no room booked she ends up in the pretty village of Thornwood, Co Clare staying in a picture postcard cottage which puts joy in her heart. A chance discovery plunges her into a mystery from the past.
1910 - Anna Butler, the daughter of a farmer, offers her help to American Harold Griffin-Krauss, who is researching folklore for his Oxford university thesis. They are drawn into the orbit of the Hawley family, Anglo Irish landowners, who live in the imposing Thornwood House. Two timelines, two interconnecting stories are woven together into a captivating tale.
Yet again, Evie Woods enchants with her imaginative and engaging storytelling which is sprinkled with fairy dust! The story is wonderful, it’s vivid with well defined characters who are easily visualised via some aptly chosen phrases.
The setting is fantastic, there are some lovely descriptions which adds its own unique atmosphere with Anna’s cottage and Thornwood House at its epicentre. Celtic places are special, the landscapes have an aura and they often feel mystical so it’s easy to see how ancient folklore arises and I love how it’s integrated into this story. The superstitions of places (here Cnoc na Sí, the hill of the fairies) of natural objects, of the ‘Good People’, makes the novel feel magical.
The two timelines flow and fuse well together. In 1910, you follow the story of Anna and Harold at times with bated breath as it takes a dark turn. In 2010/11 a bruised and damaged Sarah comes back to life and begins to accept the things that have been weighing her down. Much of this is with the aid of the 1910/11 story and by the characters she meets in County Clare.
Overall, I enjoy this novel from start to finish which has a lovely end to a lovely read.
PS the character of Harold is inspired by a real life character, which I like very much.
With thanks to NetGalley and especially to HarperCollins, One More Chapter for the much appreciated arc in return for an honest review.
Christmas Day 2010, New York City.
Sarah Harper’s marriage breaks down and instead of heading home to her family in Boston, she impulsively books a flight to Shannon in the Irish Republic. A midlife crisis? Maybe, but with no room booked she ends up in the pretty village of Thornwood, Co Clare staying in a picture postcard cottage which puts joy in her heart. A chance discovery plunges her into a mystery from the past.
1910 - Anna Butler, the daughter of a farmer, offers her help to American Harold Griffin-Krauss, who is researching folklore for his Oxford university thesis. They are drawn into the orbit of the Hawley family, Anglo Irish landowners, who live in the imposing Thornwood House. Two timelines, two interconnecting stories are woven together into a captivating tale.
Yet again, Evie Woods enchants with her imaginative and engaging storytelling which is sprinkled with fairy dust! The story is wonderful, it’s vivid with well defined characters who are easily visualised via some aptly chosen phrases.
The setting is fantastic, there are some lovely descriptions which adds its own unique atmosphere with Anna’s cottage and Thornwood House at its epicentre. Celtic places are special, the landscapes have an aura and they often feel mystical so it’s easy to see how ancient folklore arises and I love how it’s integrated into this story. The superstitions of places (here Cnoc na Sí, the hill of the fairies) of natural objects, of the ‘Good People’, makes the novel feel magical.
The two timelines flow and fuse well together. In 1910, you follow the story of Anna and Harold at times with bated breath as it takes a dark turn. In 2010/11 a bruised and damaged Sarah comes back to life and begins to accept the things that have been weighing her down. Much of this is with the aid of the 1910/11 story and by the characters she meets in County Clare.
Overall, I enjoy this novel from start to finish which has a lovely end to a lovely read.
PS the character of Harold is inspired by a real life character, which I like very much.
With thanks to NetGalley and especially to HarperCollins, One More Chapter for the much appreciated arc in return for an honest review.
September 8, 2024
This one was a donation to my Little Free Library Shed. The book cover captured my attention, so I thought I would open it and read it.
This is a two-fold story, one about Anna in the past and Sarah in the present. And, Sarah our main protagonist who readers meet at the beginning is a mess. At first, to be honest, I wasn’t sure I was going to like her. I needed her to be more than she was being portrayed, but I didn’t feel ready to give up on her. I was still intrigued enough to watch her.
There is a feeling of magic, chaos and joy along with adventure that comes through the story. Especially as readers find Sarah in Ireland. Her connection to Anna, through her diary gives her insights into her own life, and what occurs for Sarah, helps readers to be engaged in her own journey.
And, the beauty of Ireland cannot be denied. Not a perfect read, but one with love and romance that readers may appreciate.
3.5 stars rounded up.
This is a two-fold story, one about Anna in the past and Sarah in the present. And, Sarah our main protagonist who readers meet at the beginning is a mess. At first, to be honest, I wasn’t sure I was going to like her. I needed her to be more than she was being portrayed, but I didn’t feel ready to give up on her. I was still intrigued enough to watch her.
There is a feeling of magic, chaos and joy along with adventure that comes through the story. Especially as readers find Sarah in Ireland. Her connection to Anna, through her diary gives her insights into her own life, and what occurs for Sarah, helps readers to be engaged in her own journey.
And, the beauty of Ireland cannot be denied. Not a perfect read, but one with love and romance that readers may appreciate.
3.5 stars rounded up.
August 15, 2024
Sarah Harper lives in Manhattan, New York, she has recently separated from her husband Jack, she’s going home to Boston for Christmas and instead Sarah boards a plane to the West Coast of Ireland. Sarah rents a cottage in Thornwood, one night while suffering from an anxiety attack, she goes for a run and finds tin hidden in a tree and inside it is a one hundred year old diary.
The story has a dual timeline, it’s told from the two main characters points of view Sarah in 2011 and Anna in 1911 and I had no trouble following it.
Anna lives with her parents and siblings on Butler’s farm near the village of Thornwood, in County Clare and she’s surprised when her mother allows her to translate Irish to English for American Harold Griffin- Krauss, as she very strict about Sarah having a good reputations and single women don't normally travel with men and Harold's writing his thesis on Celtic folklore and fairies.
Thornwood House is the nearby estate, the English owner cut down an ancient Hawthorn tree, which belongs to the fairies and this means he and his family will be unlucky.
Anna and Harold interview locals who believe in fairies, some have seen them, they live in Hawthorn trees and in circular earthen mounds. Sarah's captivated by Anna’s diary, and it helps her overcome her personal issues and grief. Anna is caught between two worlds, she had her own experience with a fairy and she’s hasn’t shared it with Harold and a terrible act will cause a series of events and change the course of her life, and it’s the reason why her diary is hidden in the tree.
I received a copy of The Story collector by Evie Woods from HarperCollins and Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review. I’m usually not a fan of magical realism but I really enjoy this novel, and it combines well the everyday and the otherworldly, the Irish people’s belief mythology, fairies, and Celtic folklore. Five stars from me, I learnt some fairies are good and others are bad and I’m keen to read Ms. Woods previous book, The Lost Bookshop.
The story has a dual timeline, it’s told from the two main characters points of view Sarah in 2011 and Anna in 1911 and I had no trouble following it.
Anna lives with her parents and siblings on Butler’s farm near the village of Thornwood, in County Clare and she’s surprised when her mother allows her to translate Irish to English for American Harold Griffin- Krauss, as she very strict about Sarah having a good reputations and single women don't normally travel with men and Harold's writing his thesis on Celtic folklore and fairies.
Thornwood House is the nearby estate, the English owner cut down an ancient Hawthorn tree, which belongs to the fairies and this means he and his family will be unlucky.
Anna and Harold interview locals who believe in fairies, some have seen them, they live in Hawthorn trees and in circular earthen mounds. Sarah's captivated by Anna’s diary, and it helps her overcome her personal issues and grief. Anna is caught between two worlds, she had her own experience with a fairy and she’s hasn’t shared it with Harold and a terrible act will cause a series of events and change the course of her life, and it’s the reason why her diary is hidden in the tree.
I received a copy of The Story collector by Evie Woods from HarperCollins and Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review. I’m usually not a fan of magical realism but I really enjoy this novel, and it combines well the everyday and the otherworldly, the Irish people’s belief mythology, fairies, and Celtic folklore. Five stars from me, I learnt some fairies are good and others are bad and I’m keen to read Ms. Woods previous book, The Lost Bookshop.
December 25, 2018
This book was totally unexpectedly delightful. I read it all in one day, and that alone says something!
It's a historical fiction novel mainly about Irish beliefs of fairies, and superstitions. In the description it says it's a historical romance. And there's romance in it, but it's not the focus of the book. It would be undermining all the other elements in it.
The book is written in a way that it's alternating between past and present, which is a style I love. It's very beautifully and skilfully written in my opinion. I loved the main characters. I loved the different stories integrated into the main stories.
I didn't know about Irish beliefs of supernatural events happening that are related to people who died. I definitely want to read about this.
This book also has a very magical vibe that's close to movie "The Holiday". That's why I couldn't put it down, it just warmed my heart.
I would definitely recommend this book to people who love to travel through time, or to different places and learn about different customs happening somewhere else.
I will pick up other books from this author. It's a gem.
It's a historical fiction novel mainly about Irish beliefs of fairies, and superstitions. In the description it says it's a historical romance. And there's romance in it, but it's not the focus of the book. It would be undermining all the other elements in it.
The book is written in a way that it's alternating between past and present, which is a style I love. It's very beautifully and skilfully written in my opinion. I loved the main characters. I loved the different stories integrated into the main stories.
I didn't know about Irish beliefs of supernatural events happening that are related to people who died. I definitely want to read about this.
This book also has a very magical vibe that's close to movie "The Holiday". That's why I couldn't put it down, it just warmed my heart.
I would definitely recommend this book to people who love to travel through time, or to different places and learn about different customs happening somewhere else.
I will pick up other books from this author. It's a gem.
July 15, 2024
The Story Collector, a charming historical fiction novel written by Evie Gaughan, showed up on my NetGalley feed and immediately captured by interest. Ireland. Secrets. A curse. Love. Death. Drama. Books. Everything I need in my reading! From the elaborately woven descriptions of the magic with fairies (minor fantasy element) to the divine local stories of all the villagers, every chapter offered something new. Created a wonderful imaginary space to transport temporarily to, and left me excited about the adventures of love for both the main characters, one in the past and one in the present. I always prefer a tightly sealed happy ending, but you will not find that here. Love escapes some. Truth comes hurdling forward. Things settle, but I wanted some more. Definitely intrigued my reading urges, so I'll check out more from the author.
May 30, 2024
The Story Collector by Evie Woods
Synopsis /
In a quiet village in Ireland, a mysterious local myth is about to change everything…
One hundred years ago, Anna, a young farm girl, volunteers to help an intriguing American visitor translate fairy stories from Irish to English. But all is not as it seems and Anna soon finds herself at the heart of a mystery that threatens her very way of life.
In New York in the present day, Sarah Harper boards a plane bound for the West Coast of Ireland. But once there, she finds she has unearthed dark secrets – secrets that tread the line between the everyday and the otherworldly, the seen and the unseen.
With a taste for the magical in everyday life, Evie Woods's latest novel is full of ordinary characters with extraordinary tales to tell.
My Thoughts /
First and foremost, a huge THANK YOU to NetGalley, publisher HarperCollins UK, One More Chapter, and author Evie Woods, for providing me with a copy of this publication, which allows me to provide you with an unbiased review. Publication date is currently set for July 18, 2024.
There have been great societies that did not use the wheel, but there have been no societies that did not tell stories.
— Ursula K. Le Guin
Oral traditions are the backbone of Indigenous knowledge transfer, and storytelling is the beating heart by which much of this is shared. Storytelling serves to connect individuals and communities to their place and time as well as each other. Other important aspects to storytelling are that stories are used to teach history, cultural beliefs and etiquette, values, customs, and spiritual beliefs.
In The Story Collector, author Evie Woods, takes the reader on a journey into the past, back to a time and place full of myth and storytelling.
Written with a dual timeline, you follow the story of Anna Butler, a young girl, who lives with her family in the small town of Thornwood in Ireland during the early 1900s; and then during 2010/2011 we meet Sarah Harper, who lives in New York City. The author has the two stories interconnect in such a way that the two separate tales become one [captivating story].
At the start of the story, we learn that Sarah Harper has made the decision to end her marriage. She is at the airport ready to board a plane heading to Boston, where she will meet up with her family for Christmas. But an impulse decision has her abandoning those plans and sees her boarding a flight to Ireland. Immediately upon arriving in the Irish Republic, Sarah is realising the consequences of her impulsivity. Nevertheless, she's here now and wants to make the best of it. With a little help, Sarah finds her way to a pretty little village called Thornwood; and the cottage she's staying in could grace the cover of a postcard. Exploring the area, Sarah finds a book hidden in the trunk of a tree. The book, Anna's Diary, was written by eighteen-year-old, Anna Butler, in the year 1910.
Anna's Diary chronicles her days as the daughter of a farmer and a young unmarried woman. Then, by chance, she meets a gentleman by the name of Harold Griffin-Krauss, an educated man, who is travelling through Ireland as part of his thesis studies. Interviewing locals and collecting stories regarding the local folklore and paying particular attention to whether the fairy faith is still alive. He wasn't just collecting fairy stories - he was keeping the memory of his ancestors alive.
Both timelines were well documented - the characters: well, they ranged from charming to oddish, from surprisingly different to strange and then just weird. However, I was drawn more to the earlier timeline. In a nutshell, it was more memorable. Opposing chapters flowed seamlessly throughout and the past and present melded together like melted wax.
I'd like to believe that as a species we haven't lost our connection to folklore and mythology or a connection to our immediate environment - to the flora and fauna. But I'm more inclined to think that in our 'modern' world we seem to have lost touch with the natural sense of feeling connected to nature. This story has rekindled my senses and inquisitive thought processes surrounding why it's so important to keep these stories alive, and for that I'm very grateful to Woods for bringing us this story. On the face of it you might think this is just a story about fairies, but we need to appreciate the inner meaning of the dialogue and the fact that you can't apply conventional thought and thinking to what is substantially, unconventional writing.
With thanks to NetGalley and especially to publisher HarperCollins UK, One More Chapter for the much appreciated arc in return for an honest review.
Synopsis /
In a quiet village in Ireland, a mysterious local myth is about to change everything…
One hundred years ago, Anna, a young farm girl, volunteers to help an intriguing American visitor translate fairy stories from Irish to English. But all is not as it seems and Anna soon finds herself at the heart of a mystery that threatens her very way of life.
In New York in the present day, Sarah Harper boards a plane bound for the West Coast of Ireland. But once there, she finds she has unearthed dark secrets – secrets that tread the line between the everyday and the otherworldly, the seen and the unseen.
With a taste for the magical in everyday life, Evie Woods's latest novel is full of ordinary characters with extraordinary tales to tell.
My Thoughts /
First and foremost, a huge THANK YOU to NetGalley, publisher HarperCollins UK, One More Chapter, and author Evie Woods, for providing me with a copy of this publication, which allows me to provide you with an unbiased review. Publication date is currently set for July 18, 2024.
There have been great societies that did not use the wheel, but there have been no societies that did not tell stories.
— Ursula K. Le Guin
Oral traditions are the backbone of Indigenous knowledge transfer, and storytelling is the beating heart by which much of this is shared. Storytelling serves to connect individuals and communities to their place and time as well as each other. Other important aspects to storytelling are that stories are used to teach history, cultural beliefs and etiquette, values, customs, and spiritual beliefs.
In The Story Collector, author Evie Woods, takes the reader on a journey into the past, back to a time and place full of myth and storytelling.
Written with a dual timeline, you follow the story of Anna Butler, a young girl, who lives with her family in the small town of Thornwood in Ireland during the early 1900s; and then during 2010/2011 we meet Sarah Harper, who lives in New York City. The author has the two stories interconnect in such a way that the two separate tales become one [captivating story].
At the start of the story, we learn that Sarah Harper has made the decision to end her marriage. She is at the airport ready to board a plane heading to Boston, where she will meet up with her family for Christmas. But an impulse decision has her abandoning those plans and sees her boarding a flight to Ireland. Immediately upon arriving in the Irish Republic, Sarah is realising the consequences of her impulsivity. Nevertheless, she's here now and wants to make the best of it. With a little help, Sarah finds her way to a pretty little village called Thornwood; and the cottage she's staying in could grace the cover of a postcard. Exploring the area, Sarah finds a book hidden in the trunk of a tree. The book, Anna's Diary, was written by eighteen-year-old, Anna Butler, in the year 1910.
Anna's Diary chronicles her days as the daughter of a farmer and a young unmarried woman. Then, by chance, she meets a gentleman by the name of Harold Griffin-Krauss, an educated man, who is travelling through Ireland as part of his thesis studies. Interviewing locals and collecting stories regarding the local folklore and paying particular attention to whether the fairy faith is still alive. He wasn't just collecting fairy stories - he was keeping the memory of his ancestors alive.
Both timelines were well documented - the characters: well, they ranged from charming to oddish, from surprisingly different to strange and then just weird. However, I was drawn more to the earlier timeline. In a nutshell, it was more memorable. Opposing chapters flowed seamlessly throughout and the past and present melded together like melted wax.
I'd like to believe that as a species we haven't lost our connection to folklore and mythology or a connection to our immediate environment - to the flora and fauna. But I'm more inclined to think that in our 'modern' world we seem to have lost touch with the natural sense of feeling connected to nature. This story has rekindled my senses and inquisitive thought processes surrounding why it's so important to keep these stories alive, and for that I'm very grateful to Woods for bringing us this story. On the face of it you might think this is just a story about fairies, but we need to appreciate the inner meaning of the dialogue and the fact that you can't apply conventional thought and thinking to what is substantially, unconventional writing.
With thanks to NetGalley and especially to publisher HarperCollins UK, One More Chapter for the much appreciated arc in return for an honest review.
September 6, 2024
4.5 stars
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.
You can follow my reviews at https://reviewsbybarbsaffer.blogspot.com
January 27, 2022
Why only 267 ratings? 😮
I stumbled upon this book at the library and it ended up being an absolutely lovely story! It was very interesting to learn about Irish folklore. Although the pace was sometimes too slow and the plot was a bit predictable, the dual timeline kept me engaged. I appreciated the touch of magic and the bittersweet ending.
3.5 rounded up
I stumbled upon this book at the library and it ended up being an absolutely lovely story! It was very interesting to learn about Irish folklore. Although the pace was sometimes too slow and the plot was a bit predictable, the dual timeline kept me engaged. I appreciated the touch of magic and the bittersweet ending.
3.5 rounded up
August 21, 2024
The Story Collector by Evie Gaughan (Evie Woods)
Release date: July 18, 2024
The cover art of The Story Collector completely captivated me…a bookshelf filled with beautiful books, right? So when I read the description I naturally wanted to read this book! Nestled into two timelines (1910 and 2010), is a story filled with Irish folklore, romance, grief, and mystery.
The basic premise is Sarah, our 2010 female main character, is grieving a loss and has left her husband to go on an impulsive trip to Ireland. What begins as perhaps a way to run from her problems, ends up being the very thing to help her heal. While there, Sarah discovers a diary written by Anne, our 1910 main female character. Anne’s diary is about her life and her fascination with the fairies and folklore surrounding the fairies.
During our insight into Anne’s life, we meet Harold, a young American who attends Oxford and has come to Ireland to work on a paper about the fairies and the Irish folklore surrounding them. Harold chooses Anne as his assistant to interview townspeople in order to collect these stories. I enjoyed this part of the story: we learn about both characters and see their friendship develop. I also enjoyed Anne’s relationship with her family, her friendship with Hazel, and was rooting for her all the way to the end.
Throughout both narratives, there is a romance that unfolds (even though I’m not sure Sarah should even be considering romance—she’s a mess and needs to work on herself).
For me, I struggled getting into this story. I had a hard time relating to Sarah, her character development was lacking, causing me to lose interest quickly in the parts of the book relating to her. I initially found myself rushing through those chapters to get to Anne’s diary, but eventually came to enjoy both storylines.
Overall, I enjoyed this book, plan to read the authors other book, “The Lost Bookshop”, and look forward to future books by her as well!
Many thanks to Harper 360 and to NetGalley for my complimentary copy of this book in exchange for my fair and honest review.
Trigger warnings: cruelty to an animal, attempted rape, alcohol abuse, death/grief, and miscarriage.
Release date: July 18, 2024
The cover art of The Story Collector completely captivated me…a bookshelf filled with beautiful books, right? So when I read the description I naturally wanted to read this book! Nestled into two timelines (1910 and 2010), is a story filled with Irish folklore, romance, grief, and mystery.
The basic premise is Sarah, our 2010 female main character, is grieving a loss and has left her husband to go on an impulsive trip to Ireland. What begins as perhaps a way to run from her problems, ends up being the very thing to help her heal. While there, Sarah discovers a diary written by Anne, our 1910 main female character. Anne’s diary is about her life and her fascination with the fairies and folklore surrounding the fairies.
During our insight into Anne’s life, we meet Harold, a young American who attends Oxford and has come to Ireland to work on a paper about the fairies and the Irish folklore surrounding them. Harold chooses Anne as his assistant to interview townspeople in order to collect these stories. I enjoyed this part of the story: we learn about both characters and see their friendship develop. I also enjoyed Anne’s relationship with her family, her friendship with Hazel, and was rooting for her all the way to the end.
Throughout both narratives, there is a romance that unfolds (even though I’m not sure Sarah should even be considering romance—she’s a mess and needs to work on herself).
For me, I struggled getting into this story. I had a hard time relating to Sarah, her character development was lacking, causing me to lose interest quickly in the parts of the book relating to her. I initially found myself rushing through those chapters to get to Anne’s diary, but eventually came to enjoy both storylines.
Overall, I enjoyed this book, plan to read the authors other book, “The Lost Bookshop”, and look forward to future books by her as well!
Many thanks to Harper 360 and to NetGalley for my complimentary copy of this book in exchange for my fair and honest review.
Trigger warnings: cruelty to an animal, attempted rape, alcohol abuse, death/grief, and miscarriage.
August 9, 2018
I hadn’t heard of this author until I saw a couple of reviewers recommending The Story Collector. It sounded intriguing, and when I saw it was available on Kindle Unlimited, I bumped it up my to be read pile.
Being half Irish, due to my Mum being from County Clare, and the majority of my Irish family still living there, I did have a personal interest in the location this book was set. I’m also obsessed with fairies, and have been ever since I received a postage stamp sized letter from my tooth fairy, Fiona when I was a little girl. In fact, I was probably obsessed long before that, I think that just made it worse, ha ha. I have one tattoo on my body, and that is a large fairy on my right arm, which clearly shows I never did grow out of my love of fairies. In fact, this book did leave me wondering whether it’s my Irish blood that influenced my love of fairies.
I loved the idea behind this book, and there are some lovely characters. I did find it slow burning in places, which took away from my enjoyment slightly. However, life has been tough recently. I’m tired and easily distracted, so that won’t have helped. If you enjoy character led stories set in a friendly community, focusing on mystery, love, loss, hope and the magical realism of fairies, then I would recommend this book.
I borrowed this through Amazon Kindle Unlimited.
Being half Irish, due to my Mum being from County Clare, and the majority of my Irish family still living there, I did have a personal interest in the location this book was set. I’m also obsessed with fairies, and have been ever since I received a postage stamp sized letter from my tooth fairy, Fiona when I was a little girl. In fact, I was probably obsessed long before that, I think that just made it worse, ha ha. I have one tattoo on my body, and that is a large fairy on my right arm, which clearly shows I never did grow out of my love of fairies. In fact, this book did leave me wondering whether it’s my Irish blood that influenced my love of fairies.
I loved the idea behind this book, and there are some lovely characters. I did find it slow burning in places, which took away from my enjoyment slightly. However, life has been tough recently. I’m tired and easily distracted, so that won’t have helped. If you enjoy character led stories set in a friendly community, focusing on mystery, love, loss, hope and the magical realism of fairies, then I would recommend this book.
I borrowed this through Amazon Kindle Unlimited.
May 6, 2024
I enjoyed this cute little tale about a grieving woman who drunkenly takes an impromptu flight to the sleepy Irish town of Thornwood. Sarah is supposed to be leaving her husband in NYC and flying back home to Boston on Christmas Day, but she ends up on the wrong flight and decides that maybe she needs a reset for a week or two before she heads back to the U.S.
As one does in these kinds of tales, she ends up staying longer and the possibility of healing draws ever closer with each interaction with the Irish locals. There’s a dual timeline here, and I loved learning about what life was like in rural Ireland just before WWI, as well as in 2011. The descriptions of the countryside completely drew me in. I would LOVE to visit Ireland! I just wish it had better weather… 😉😁
The ending was a little abrupt for my taste, and it is a slow burn, but I had fun immersing myself in Thornwood, and I think others will, too.
Thank you to NetGalley and One More Chapter for gifting me with an eARC. All opinions are my own.
Warning: Possible Spoilers with the trigger warnings below, but I think they bear mentioning:
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TW: Animal cruelty; graphic animal death; attempted rape
As one does in these kinds of tales, she ends up staying longer and the possibility of healing draws ever closer with each interaction with the Irish locals. There’s a dual timeline here, and I loved learning about what life was like in rural Ireland just before WWI, as well as in 2011. The descriptions of the countryside completely drew me in. I would LOVE to visit Ireland! I just wish it had better weather… 😉😁
The ending was a little abrupt for my taste, and it is a slow burn, but I had fun immersing myself in Thornwood, and I think others will, too.
Thank you to NetGalley and One More Chapter for gifting me with an eARC. All opinions are my own.
Warning: Possible Spoilers with the trigger warnings below, but I think they bear mentioning:
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TW: Animal cruelty; graphic animal death; attempted rape
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 23, 2024
✰ 2.75 stars ✰
“If we lose our stories,’ he wrote, ‘we lose ourselves.”
The Story Collector is told in dual timelines - that of a farmer's daughter, eighteen-year-old Anna of 1910, & one set a hundred years later, where Sarah escapes from the Big Bad Thing that broke her heart and spirit in New York, takes an impromptu trip to the Irish countryside, led by the impulsive pull of a very special hawthorn tree, thought to be ‘an important meeting place for the Connacht and Munster fairies’, and should be protected at all costs for its magical ties to Irish folklore.
“Perhaps that was why some people were so willing to believe in fairies. Maybe they were trying to hang on to something, or make believe that there was more to this life, beyond death.”
It's a bit odd to explain why and why not this was not really a great read, but it would feel wrong to write it off entirely. It is towards the end where I really feel the validity of the way the story was depicted, but I do have issues with the writing tone and format for certain parts. 🙅🏻♀️ Anna's narrative of how she volunteers to assist Harold, a young American researching Celtic folklore and translating the stories of the Good People into English, is presented in diary form, which was a bit troublesome for me. 😕
Diaries that read as actual scenes don't quite appeal to me. It would have benefited greatly, if the author could have simply told us that Sarah had found her journal, and we could have stepped back in time to her life, rather than having us believe that she actually wrote everything out as a story. I can't imagine anyone writing everything out with such fine detail as she did. 😅 I certainly didn't! So, it just feels off to transport the reader back in time with a journal entry; switching the timeline - even in first person would have been much better. The writing also had a slight modern feel to it that also seemed out of place of that time period, that made it harder to relate to. 🙍🏻♀️
But, her backstory was compelling; we get invited into her life and the people close to her to get that glimpse of how magical and reality merge and inadvertently change her life. The mystery surrounding the Thornwood mansion was intriguing, and it tied in nicely to the myth of fairies. '‘It was demind, the old ways and the new, like two worlds coming asunder.' 🥺 It leads us deeper into the danger that it presents and how one has to make the right choice, in order to save another. The presence of the fae and this overlying presence of mystic and mayhem was captured intensely. The characters definitely felt more fleshed out in the past, than they were in the present.
“Even a broken heart still feels... And in her own mixed-up way, she thought that by fixing someone else’s, she might heal her own.”
Sarah was -- Sarah; a dispirited and heartbroken alcoholic who somehow felt that coming to this quaint little cottage would somehow ease the pain in her heart and the wounds of her soul. 'Self-awareness continued to elude her and the obvious still presented itself like a surprise.' I'm not sure if I was too keen on the romantic interest that she struck a fancy for - honestly, it would have been fine without it - but there was something that tied her to him that made it somewhat make sense. Yet, at the same time, her chapters felt like they were trying too hard to be whimsical and magical that it felt unbelievable. 🤔
But, as her character slowly learns to let go, I started to see what had led her to be in denial of her own pain; and I felt for her. I felt for her and accepted her gradual realization of enduring through the tragedy that grieved her so. ❤️🩹❤️🩹 How painful memories don't entirely fade, but 'but instead of a hardness, it can become a tenderness. Your heart will make room for your memories and you won’t be afraid of them any more.’ I felt like it was a calling for her to find Anna's journal and help her overcome her own guilt and shame of what she had lost and accept that even grieving is okay. As those hints surfaced, I began to appreciate her a little more and see how she changed for the better because of it. Of how she learned the joys of following her heart, rather than others leading her to happiness. 🫂
I wasn't quite a fan of the ending being relayed to us; it felt underwhelming and too rushed to really appreciate it. Even the time jump did very little to feel satisfactory, even if it was a happy one. When it comes down to it, I do appreciate the reasoning of both perspectives and the heartfelt message that it delivers. 👍🏻 It's not exactly a grand story, but perhaps, the beauty of it lies in the quiet simplicity of what it was depicting; through a sense of magical realism to it that would allow both characters to overcome their own grief-stricken pasts, but still cherish the memories of those lost forever. Why she needed to be here and feel the magic of her surroundings to get over her own grief. Much like Anna who shouldered her own pain, to accept it was something that resonated with me and made me appreciate the meaning behind the story collector's intentions, after all. 🫶🏻
“If we lose our stories,’ he wrote, ‘we lose ourselves.”
The Story Collector is told in dual timelines - that of a farmer's daughter, eighteen-year-old Anna of 1910, & one set a hundred years later, where Sarah escapes from the Big Bad Thing that broke her heart and spirit in New York, takes an impromptu trip to the Irish countryside, led by the impulsive pull of a very special hawthorn tree, thought to be ‘an important meeting place for the Connacht and Munster fairies’, and should be protected at all costs for its magical ties to Irish folklore.
“Perhaps that was why some people were so willing to believe in fairies. Maybe they were trying to hang on to something, or make believe that there was more to this life, beyond death.”
It's a bit odd to explain why and why not this was not really a great read, but it would feel wrong to write it off entirely. It is towards the end where I really feel the validity of the way the story was depicted, but I do have issues with the writing tone and format for certain parts. 🙅🏻♀️ Anna's narrative of how she volunteers to assist Harold, a young American researching Celtic folklore and translating the stories of the Good People into English, is presented in diary form, which was a bit troublesome for me. 😕
Diaries that read as actual scenes don't quite appeal to me. It would have benefited greatly, if the author could have simply told us that Sarah had found her journal, and we could have stepped back in time to her life, rather than having us believe that she actually wrote everything out as a story. I can't imagine anyone writing everything out with such fine detail as she did. 😅 I certainly didn't! So, it just feels off to transport the reader back in time with a journal entry; switching the timeline - even in first person would have been much better. The writing also had a slight modern feel to it that also seemed out of place of that time period, that made it harder to relate to. 🙍🏻♀️
But, her backstory was compelling; we get invited into her life and the people close to her to get that glimpse of how magical and reality merge and inadvertently change her life. The mystery surrounding the Thornwood mansion was intriguing, and it tied in nicely to the myth of fairies. '‘It was demind, the old ways and the new, like two worlds coming asunder.' 🥺 It leads us deeper into the danger that it presents and how one has to make the right choice, in order to save another. The presence of the fae and this overlying presence of mystic and mayhem was captured intensely. The characters definitely felt more fleshed out in the past, than they were in the present.
“Even a broken heart still feels... And in her own mixed-up way, she thought that by fixing someone else’s, she might heal her own.”
Sarah was -- Sarah; a dispirited and heartbroken alcoholic who somehow felt that coming to this quaint little cottage would somehow ease the pain in her heart and the wounds of her soul. 'Self-awareness continued to elude her and the obvious still presented itself like a surprise.' I'm not sure if I was too keen on the romantic interest that she struck a fancy for - honestly, it would have been fine without it - but there was something that tied her to him that made it somewhat make sense. Yet, at the same time, her chapters felt like they were trying too hard to be whimsical and magical that it felt unbelievable. 🤔
But, as her character slowly learns to let go, I started to see what had led her to be in denial of her own pain; and I felt for her. I felt for her and accepted her gradual realization of enduring through the tragedy that grieved her so. ❤️🩹❤️🩹 How painful memories don't entirely fade, but 'but instead of a hardness, it can become a tenderness. Your heart will make room for your memories and you won’t be afraid of them any more.’ I felt like it was a calling for her to find Anna's journal and help her overcome her own guilt and shame of what she had lost and accept that even grieving is okay. As those hints surfaced, I began to appreciate her a little more and see how she changed for the better because of it. Of how she learned the joys of following her heart, rather than others leading her to happiness. 🫂
I wasn't quite a fan of the ending being relayed to us; it felt underwhelming and too rushed to really appreciate it. Even the time jump did very little to feel satisfactory, even if it was a happy one. When it comes down to it, I do appreciate the reasoning of both perspectives and the heartfelt message that it delivers. 👍🏻 It's not exactly a grand story, but perhaps, the beauty of it lies in the quiet simplicity of what it was depicting; through a sense of magical realism to it that would allow both characters to overcome their own grief-stricken pasts, but still cherish the memories of those lost forever. Why she needed to be here and feel the magic of her surroundings to get over her own grief. Much like Anna who shouldered her own pain, to accept it was something that resonated with me and made me appreciate the meaning behind the story collector's intentions, after all. 🫶🏻
June 2, 2024
I really enjoyed this book 😊 It’s set 100 years apart (in 1911 and 2011) and the author takes you both time frames. It starts in 2011 when Sarah boards a plane for Ireland unbeknownst to her (she thought she was traveling to the US) and ends up staying in a cabin during New Years. She finds diary from Anna that was written in 1911, where she tells a her story.
If you enjoy a story that takes you an adventure, then I highly recommend this book. I’ve read another book by this authors and it was just as wonderful ❤️
Thank you NetGalley and Evie Woods for the opportunity to read this book before it’s been released ☺️
If you enjoy a story that takes you an adventure, then I highly recommend this book. I’ve read another book by this authors and it was just as wonderful ❤️
Thank you NetGalley and Evie Woods for the opportunity to read this book before it’s been released ☺️
May 30, 2024
I received a free copy of, The Story Collector, by Evie Woods, from the publisher and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Sarah Harper goes to Ireland to get away, she finds a book that was written a hundred years ago. Anna a farm girl was helping an American translate a book. Sarah is intrigued by Anna. I really enjoyed this story, Anna and Sarah are great characters, very strong women,
September 27, 2024
3.75 stars Thanks to BookBrowse for allowing me to read and review this book. Published 6/14/2018
This book was written in a duel format with two points of view. One line was in the present day and one line was from 100 years ago. Both formats took place in America and also Ireland.
We have Anna, from Ireland, who is helping Harold, from America, write a book about the Irish fairies. And we have Sarah who on a whim takes a plane trip to Ireland. Ireland is the binding element.
Easy light read - not overrun with too many characters, but the ones in the story are well developed. Good ending. Great touch of magical realism.
Soooo, do you believe in fairies? They may be watching...
This book was written in a duel format with two points of view. One line was in the present day and one line was from 100 years ago. Both formats took place in America and also Ireland.
We have Anna, from Ireland, who is helping Harold, from America, write a book about the Irish fairies. And we have Sarah who on a whim takes a plane trip to Ireland. Ireland is the binding element.
Easy light read - not overrun with too many characters, but the ones in the story are well developed. Good ending. Great touch of magical realism.
Soooo, do you believe in fairies? They may be watching...
April 22, 2018
Never judge a book by its cover they say, but I did with this one and I wasn't disappointed. The story is just as beautiful as the cover design. It follows two women in two different time periods. We have Sarah in the modern day and Anna a hundred years ago, both struggling to come to terms with grief and the story alternates betweens their two viewpoints in such a clever way, the we see Sara learning from Anna's experiences. And the thing that ties them together is the location and the fairies. Sorry, I shouldn't call them that, The Good People.
I loved the way this book was written, the style so flowing and effortless, and the descriptions so vivid you are there, transported to the two different time-scales. I'm not a big historical fiction fan generally, but I loved the historical sections in this book and how we see rural life depicted, all the superstitions and the protocols and the very good manners. We also get a sense of the friction building as the Irish seek to become Independent of Britain, but that's in the background. The focus of this book is discovering how the good People live and how they affect everyday life.
Who knew fairies could be so bad-ass and mean? I definitely learnt a lot from the story and loved the gentle progress of the romantic element. There are some lovely characters in here, so beautifully drawn and authentic. I especially liked Harold as the eccentric American scholar and Anna as the farmers daughter, who helps him in his studies.
I LOVED IT!!! And I would heartily recommend it if you're looking for something a little bit different and are interested in exploring a little corner of Ireland and Irish culture.
My thanks to Urbane Publications and the author for an ARC in return for an honest review.
I loved the way this book was written, the style so flowing and effortless, and the descriptions so vivid you are there, transported to the two different time-scales. I'm not a big historical fiction fan generally, but I loved the historical sections in this book and how we see rural life depicted, all the superstitions and the protocols and the very good manners. We also get a sense of the friction building as the Irish seek to become Independent of Britain, but that's in the background. The focus of this book is discovering how the good People live and how they affect everyday life.
Who knew fairies could be so bad-ass and mean? I definitely learnt a lot from the story and loved the gentle progress of the romantic element. There are some lovely characters in here, so beautifully drawn and authentic. I especially liked Harold as the eccentric American scholar and Anna as the farmers daughter, who helps him in his studies.
I LOVED IT!!! And I would heartily recommend it if you're looking for something a little bit different and are interested in exploring a little corner of Ireland and Irish culture.
My thanks to Urbane Publications and the author for an ARC in return for an honest review.
July 9, 2024
Sarah Harper is going through a divorce. She leaves her husband to fly home but she doesn't make it home. Sarah decides mid flights to fly to the West Coast of Ireland. She finds a wonderful little village known for their fairy tree. She visits the tree and discovers a diary written a hundred years ago by a girl named Anna. Anna a farm girl helps a man named Harold to explore the local folklore about fairies. This story has a wonderful cast of characters and is beautifully written. I loved the Irish folklore and the tales of love and loss. One of my favorite reads of 2024.
June 12, 2018
What a stunning book! Both inside and out! It was the cover that initially drew me to pick this book up, but once I'd read the blur and it promised folklore and myth, I was convinced this was my kind of book - and I was proved right!
The story is set in 2 timelines - 2010 with the character of Sarah who has recently split from her husband, and is at that point in her life where she doesn't know what is next for her - and also 1910 with the character of Anna whose story we hear of through her diary entries. The way these stories blend together is extremely clever and enthralling and I loved both characters for the ways they dealt with the issues that faced them.
Set in the village of Thornwood over the years, the stories of 'The Good People' have always been part of the folklore and there has always been a huge interest in the ways of the fairies - some curse them, others see them as a good power watching over them, and as Sarah traces the steps of Anna and Harold, the American who is in the village to collect stories of local folklore, she begins to see similarities between her own life and finds herself falling under the spell of Thornwood herself. With the help of Hazel, a local, she finds herself using the thoughts and experiences of Anna to understand her own life and how to move on.
This was a beautifully written story that had me captivated from start to finish. It was full of the magical elements that I love alongside some fascinating characters and that the power of belief is such a powerful thing to many.
Highly recommended!!
The story is set in 2 timelines - 2010 with the character of Sarah who has recently split from her husband, and is at that point in her life where she doesn't know what is next for her - and also 1910 with the character of Anna whose story we hear of through her diary entries. The way these stories blend together is extremely clever and enthralling and I loved both characters for the ways they dealt with the issues that faced them.
Set in the village of Thornwood over the years, the stories of 'The Good People' have always been part of the folklore and there has always been a huge interest in the ways of the fairies - some curse them, others see them as a good power watching over them, and as Sarah traces the steps of Anna and Harold, the American who is in the village to collect stories of local folklore, she begins to see similarities between her own life and finds herself falling under the spell of Thornwood herself. With the help of Hazel, a local, she finds herself using the thoughts and experiences of Anna to understand her own life and how to move on.
This was a beautifully written story that had me captivated from start to finish. It was full of the magical elements that I love alongside some fascinating characters and that the power of belief is such a powerful thing to many.
Highly recommended!!
June 18, 2018
Oh wow, my heart is simply bursting with love for this magical and special story that really took my breath away.
Struggling with grief and loss, Sarah Harper is lost and alone so when she drunkenly decides to travel to Ireland at Christmas instead of to her sister's home in Boston, everyone is a little concerned for her welfare, including Sarah herself when she realises what she has done. But the wild beauty and serenity of Ireland soon calms her troubled soul and when she discovers an old diary in the hollow of a tree, an enchanting and at times heartbreaking story unfolds which will help Sarah deal with her own problems.
As the story moves from past to present, from Anna's life all those years ago to Sarah's life in the present day, there is so much that these two ladies have in common and I easily fell into the swell and sway of this beautifully written tale. I smiled, I cried, and I felt the magic in each and every page of THE STORY COLLECTOR by Evie Gaughan and have felt myself the unexplained magic that certain places in my beautiful country hold - nothing substantial, just a feeling that there is something more to this ancient land that we have forgotten about in our hectic, modern lives.
THE STORY COLLECTOR by Evie Gaughan is a story of love, loss, family, and heritage that will spark the magic in your soul and make it a book that will find a special place on your bookshelf where you can escape into it again when a little enchantment is needed. A truly excellent story.
*I voluntarily reviewed this book from the author
Struggling with grief and loss, Sarah Harper is lost and alone so when she drunkenly decides to travel to Ireland at Christmas instead of to her sister's home in Boston, everyone is a little concerned for her welfare, including Sarah herself when she realises what she has done. But the wild beauty and serenity of Ireland soon calms her troubled soul and when she discovers an old diary in the hollow of a tree, an enchanting and at times heartbreaking story unfolds which will help Sarah deal with her own problems.
As the story moves from past to present, from Anna's life all those years ago to Sarah's life in the present day, there is so much that these two ladies have in common and I easily fell into the swell and sway of this beautifully written tale. I smiled, I cried, and I felt the magic in each and every page of THE STORY COLLECTOR by Evie Gaughan and have felt myself the unexplained magic that certain places in my beautiful country hold - nothing substantial, just a feeling that there is something more to this ancient land that we have forgotten about in our hectic, modern lives.
THE STORY COLLECTOR by Evie Gaughan is a story of love, loss, family, and heritage that will spark the magic in your soul and make it a book that will find a special place on your bookshelf where you can escape into it again when a little enchantment is needed. A truly excellent story.
*I voluntarily reviewed this book from the author
June 20, 2024
Thank you to Harper Collins for the ARC! Unfortunately, this novel did not live up to the synopsis. What sounded like a neat idea, especially involving Irish folklore, fell flat. It lacked the magic and it took to long for anything interesting to happen. And honestly, the writing felt lazy. The characters did not have an accent (it can be done!) and the diary entries were not depicted correctly. It did not feel like they were “written”, but read the same as the rest of the novel. I only finished it so I could give a full review.
September 8, 2024
THE GOOD:
Irish fiction has such a great combination of bright light and optimistic spirit along with a fog-laden spooky but magical, bight-green topography. This novel is no exception.
Our leading ladies are interesting and engaging.
THE BAD:
The parts told by American characters could have used a very serious scrub for vernacular language.
The cover is a bit misleading. I would recommend a picture of a hawthorn tree, which is featured prominently in the tale.
CONCLUSION:
Recommended. Both a tragedy and happy ending.
Irish fiction has such a great combination of bright light and optimistic spirit along with a fog-laden spooky but magical, bight-green topography. This novel is no exception.
Our leading ladies are interesting and engaging.
THE BAD:
The parts told by American characters could have used a very serious scrub for vernacular language.
The cover is a bit misleading. I would recommend a picture of a hawthorn tree, which is featured prominently in the tale.
CONCLUSION:
Recommended. Both a tragedy and happy ending.
November 26, 2023
A VERY slow starter. Half way through and not enjoying the process, but it picked up and by the end of the book I didn’t want to put it down until I finished it.
I enjoyed the setting and stories of the fairies from the locals, which somewhat played in to the final scenes. I enjoyed the story but wish it had picked up a bit sooner.
I enjoyed the setting and stories of the fairies from the locals, which somewhat played in to the final scenes. I enjoyed the story but wish it had picked up a bit sooner.
July 29, 2024
5 ⭐️
This imaginative book sparked all my childhood dreams. If you were ever a little girl (or adult woman) that believed in faeries and love, then this book is worth checking out. It hit home for me on so many levels - an adult woman that lost her identity during a marriage, seeking her independence after a split, making decisions on a whim, a glimmer of hope that faeries are real, and a love story that we’re all just dying to hear the ending of. Throw in a splash of faeries and you have yourself a winning book!
The main story collector reminds me of W.Y. Evans-Wentz who collected reports and encounters with faeries in the Celtic Countries and published his work in 1911, which is still regarded as scholarly and culturally important today.
Do you believe in faeries? 🧚🏼♀️ 🧚♂️ 🧚🏼
**Originally read in Oct 2023 when published as Evie Gaughan. I’m such a fan of Evie Woods and was thrilled to see a new book by her, and requested from Netgalley before realizing I had already read (and loved) this story 💕
This imaginative book sparked all my childhood dreams. If you were ever a little girl (or adult woman) that believed in faeries and love, then this book is worth checking out. It hit home for me on so many levels - an adult woman that lost her identity during a marriage, seeking her independence after a split, making decisions on a whim, a glimmer of hope that faeries are real, and a love story that we’re all just dying to hear the ending of. Throw in a splash of faeries and you have yourself a winning book!
The main story collector reminds me of W.Y. Evans-Wentz who collected reports and encounters with faeries in the Celtic Countries and published his work in 1911, which is still regarded as scholarly and culturally important today.
Do you believe in faeries? 🧚🏼♀️ 🧚♂️ 🧚🏼
**Originally read in Oct 2023 when published as Evie Gaughan. I’m such a fan of Evie Woods and was thrilled to see a new book by her, and requested from Netgalley before realizing I had already read (and loved) this story 💕
October 5, 2019
Irritating
I was surprised to find the author is Irish because this book seems too 'twee' and sentimental. more the sort of thing an American would write, perhaps. I may be being unfair. I was also irritated about the structure of the story. A large part is supposedly read from the diary of a young Irish woman writing about her experiences in 1910, by an American woman in Ireland in 2010. However, the diary 'extracts', apart from being in the first person, do not read like a diary. The diarist's family are described in the past tense - but in a diary their personalities would more naturally be written about in the present tense. This is not how you would write a personal diary but more a memoir written years later. This may seem a minor thing but it continues to annoy me and undermined the authenticity of the narrative. After a few more chapters I gave up.
I was surprised to find the author is Irish because this book seems too 'twee' and sentimental. more the sort of thing an American would write, perhaps. I may be being unfair. I was also irritated about the structure of the story. A large part is supposedly read from the diary of a young Irish woman writing about her experiences in 1910, by an American woman in Ireland in 2010. However, the diary 'extracts', apart from being in the first person, do not read like a diary. The diarist's family are described in the past tense - but in a diary their personalities would more naturally be written about in the present tense. This is not how you would write a personal diary but more a memoir written years later. This may seem a minor thing but it continues to annoy me and undermined the authenticity of the narrative. After a few more chapters I gave up.
August 13, 2024
2.5 rounded up.
After two years of living in a house filled with unspoken needs and muffled emotions, Sarah and Jack finally decide to part ways. Sarah, now at Newark Airport, is waiting to board a flight to Boston to spend Christmas with her sister. While wandering through gift shops, she stumbles upon an Irish store where she buys an Irish newspaper and a bottle of Irish whiskey. In a drunken haze, inspired by an article about a "fairy tree," she impulsively books a flight to Ireland.
When she lands in a small Irish town, she finds a charming, quaint cottage for rent and, despite the town not being what she expected, she begins to find solace in the peaceful Irish countryside and its people.
In the middle of one night, during a panic attack-induced walk, Sarah discovers a century-old diary buried in a tree trunk. The diary belonged to an 18-year-old named Anna Butler, and Sarah becomes irresistibly drawn to Anna's story, wanting to learn everything about her life.
The book starts with a middle aged woman running away from her life, but it quickly becomes much more than that. Set against the stunning backdrop of the Irish countryside, the book immerses readers in the lives of both women, skillfully weaving in Irish folklore and elements of magical realism. The writing vividly captures the setting and the connection between the two time periods. However, the prose in Anna’s sections can feel somewhat forced, as though the author is trying too hard to evoke the historical period.
The characters are well-developed and distinct. Sarah, dealing with a mid-life crisis and recovering from alcoholism, contrasts sharply with the naive, sheltered Anna, whose youthful innocence is vividly portrayed.
Despite its many strengths, the book’s pacing is uneven. The first 75% of the story builds almost too slowly, while the final quarter feels rushed, leading to a climax that lacks impact. Also, I personally felt that the romantic elements in both timelines, especially Anna’s, lacked chemistry and felt contrived.
Overall, this is a decent read for those interested in a light-hearted exploration of Irish folklore and magical realism. Thanks to NetGalley and Harper 360 for an ARC!
After two years of living in a house filled with unspoken needs and muffled emotions, Sarah and Jack finally decide to part ways. Sarah, now at Newark Airport, is waiting to board a flight to Boston to spend Christmas with her sister. While wandering through gift shops, she stumbles upon an Irish store where she buys an Irish newspaper and a bottle of Irish whiskey. In a drunken haze, inspired by an article about a "fairy tree," she impulsively books a flight to Ireland.
When she lands in a small Irish town, she finds a charming, quaint cottage for rent and, despite the town not being what she expected, she begins to find solace in the peaceful Irish countryside and its people.
In the middle of one night, during a panic attack-induced walk, Sarah discovers a century-old diary buried in a tree trunk. The diary belonged to an 18-year-old named Anna Butler, and Sarah becomes irresistibly drawn to Anna's story, wanting to learn everything about her life.
The book starts with a middle aged woman running away from her life, but it quickly becomes much more than that. Set against the stunning backdrop of the Irish countryside, the book immerses readers in the lives of both women, skillfully weaving in Irish folklore and elements of magical realism. The writing vividly captures the setting and the connection between the two time periods. However, the prose in Anna’s sections can feel somewhat forced, as though the author is trying too hard to evoke the historical period.
The characters are well-developed and distinct. Sarah, dealing with a mid-life crisis and recovering from alcoholism, contrasts sharply with the naive, sheltered Anna, whose youthful innocence is vividly portrayed.
Despite its many strengths, the book’s pacing is uneven. The first 75% of the story builds almost too slowly, while the final quarter feels rushed, leading to a climax that lacks impact. Also, I personally felt that the romantic elements in both timelines, especially Anna’s, lacked chemistry and felt contrived.
Overall, this is a decent read for those interested in a light-hearted exploration of Irish folklore and magical realism. Thanks to NetGalley and Harper 360 for an ARC!
September 14, 2024
I felt similarly about this book that I did in Evie’s other book, The Lost Bookshop. It was okay. Some of the character development bothered me with Sarah and Anna - but it was still an enjoyable read. I didn’t like the ending of one of the timelines - there was a lot left unsaid.
September 22, 2024
I normally go in blind to stories and recommend everyone do the same. However…………… this one even though I completely loved the story I feel needs a mention that women’s grief and stillbirth are within this novel. Please be kind to yourself and be aware of this if you are at all sensitive to the subject as many women are. Be prepared to love this story but also be prepared to cry.
# The Story Collector
# 9/20/2024 ~ 9/20/2024
# 4.0 / 5.0
# The Story Collector
# 9/20/2024 ~ 9/20/2024
# 4.0 / 5.0
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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