★★★★☆ Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries, by Heather Fawcett
The formidable Emily Wilde
Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries
Heather Fawcett
The formidable Emily Wilde
Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries comprises the October, 1909-February, 1910 research journal of the protagonist Emily Wilde, an adjunct professor at Cambridge University. Emily is a scientist who studies faeries. Because it is her journal, she is the first person narrator of the book, with the exception of one chapter written by her colleague Wendell Bambleby.
Emily is a splendid heroine. She is a hard-working and devoted scientist, with little interest in anything other than science. She doesn't really want to do anything except her work -- she dislikes people and conversation, and happily retreats to her office or the library whenever she can. (Some readers will find her extreme introversion implausible, but as a scientist myself, I assure you that it is realistic. Not all scientists are like Emily, but many of them are.)
Emily seems like a mousy scholar, unfit for the rigors of the real world. Indeed, one character refers to her as a "mousy little scholar". (She has her revenge.) She occasionally claims that, as a veteran of field work with the faerie, she is capable of holding her own with the faerie folk. When I read that it immediately brought to my mind the common trope in which an overconfident scholar claims to be able to handle herself against the rigors of reality. I firmly expected Emily was quickly going to stumble into trouble and need the help of more experienced battle-hardened veterans to rescue her. In fact, it turns out that Emily's claims are entirely justified. She knows what she's doing and is in fact terrifyingly capable of holding her own against the fae.
I loved the way Heather Fawcett showed us Emily's abilities. We are introduced to them gradually. In fact, the book starts out rather slowly. As Emily's days pass, though, she gradually gets herself into more and more hairy-scary situations, and she handles them with courage and skill. You (or I, at least) come to admire her not for what she says she can do or what others say she can do, but for what she matter-of-factly-if-terrifyingly does.
Hello, Elephant! Yes, I see you. Permit me to address you. You will notice that Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries is classified as a "Romance". Also, among the characters is one Wendell Bambleby, whom I have already mentioned. The publisher's blurb has this to say about him
But as Emily gets closer and closer to uncovering the secrets of the Hidden Ones--the most elusive of all faeries--lurking in the shadowy forest outside the town, she also finds herself on the trail of another mystery: Who is Wendell Bambleby, and what does he really want? To find the answer, she'll have to unlock the greatest mystery of all--her own heart.
Yeah, that all is hinting at what you probably think it is.
However, I want to reassure you that this is not one of those horrid stories in which the plain girl with glasses takes off her glasses and becomes beautiful and desirable. In fact, Encyclopaedia of Faeries reminded me a little of the animated film Abominable. When I saw Abominable, I remarked to my friends, "It is so refreshing to see a film where the smart, strong one is the girl and the vain pretty one is the boy." That description also works for Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries.