Karren Sandercock 's Reviews > The Story Collector

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.