Twenty years ago, teenaged Tara Martin disappeared in the dense--some say enchanted--forest known as the Outwoods on the edge of a small town in central England. Her parents and her brother, Peter, feared the unthinkable; her troubled boyfriend, Richie, was the last known person to be with her, but there were no signs of any wrongdoing. Police and naighbors searched the Outwoods for days, but weekes turned into months and her family slowly gave up hope. Tara's disappearance was left unsolved.
Now, twenty years after her disappearance, a knock at the door on Christmas Day brings an overwhelming sight: Tara, disheveled and exhausted but very much alive. Her explanation for her absence comes hesitantly, and does not seem logical--especially when she confides to Peter, now a forty-year-old hisband and father, that if she were to tell the …
What really happened to Tara Martin?
Was it all just a fairy tale?
Twenty years ago, teenaged Tara Martin disappeared in the dense--some say enchanted--forest known as the Outwoods on the edge of a small town in central England. Her parents and her brother, Peter, feared the unthinkable; her troubled boyfriend, Richie, was the last known person to be with her, but there were no signs of any wrongdoing. Police and naighbors searched the Outwoods for days, but weekes turned into months and her family slowly gave up hope. Tara's disappearance was left unsolved.
Now, twenty years after her disappearance, a knock at the door on Christmas Day brings an overwhelming sight: Tara, disheveled and exhausted but very much alive. Her explanation for her absence comes hesitantly, and does not seem logical--especially when she confides to Peter, now a forty-year-old hisband and father, that if she were to tell the full story no one would ever speak to her again. What is most unsettling is that Tara looks barely older than the day she vanished.
Tara's tale--slowly revealed--is either magical or delusional, dreamlike or terrifying. For Richie, who never recovered from the disgrace of suspicion, Tara's return offers the chance to regain the love of his life, although for all the longing he's felt for twenty years, a new blackness seems to overtake him with Tara's renewed presence. As those who love and missed Tara attempt to understand where she's been for two decades, they begin to ask the same question: Has Tara lost her sanity, or have they?
Award-winning author Graham Joyce masterfully explores the world that exists between dreams and reality, the known and the unknown. Some Kind of Fairy Tale is a unique journey every bit as magical as its title implies and as real and as unsentimental as the world around us.
Review of 'Some Kind of Fairy Tale' on 'Goodreads'
3 stars
I think this book mostly achieves what it sets out to do, although I'm not sure I care for it very much, and I don't think it's ultimately as ambiguous as it pretends or thinks it is. Despite the nice writing (and it as very easy to read) I could never become too invested in what was happening because none of the main characters were particularly likable. It did transport me back to reading psychology textbooks, but those now feel outdated and make me feel uncomfortable so I'm not sure how grateful I am for that either.
Review of 'Some Kind of Fairy Tale' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
Wow. I was on pins and needles, not sure if this tale was going to pull through the muck of fairy tale pop culture garbage. Or, worse, turn into some kind of horror tale.
It flirted sometimes with both, but then Joyce pulled it out of such dangers and the ending was just wonderful.
This was a wonderfully original story, yet faithful to what is known of old traditional Faery lore (not to be confused with the Disney-fied junk, which is even worse than the sanitized Victorian romantic gossamer notions of the Folk).
Good writing, wonderfully imagined POV, and deliciously satisfying.
Review of 'Some Kind of Fairy Tale' on 'Goodreads'
5 stars
I have been saving Some Kind of Fairy Tale to read for about two years, always putting it off to read review copy.
I knew within the first few pages that it was going to be one of those rare books that performs the magic of immersion and so delayed reading until I needed a really good read to pick me up.
In that intervening period Graham Joyce passed away. So my joy at reading this work was tinged with the sad knowledge that there’s no more of his work to be enjoyed, that we have lost an astounding talent.
Some Kind of Fairy Tale is one of those rare books that manages to balance a sense of realism with the fantastic, that manages to rework a fairy tale retelling in a field that is saturated with fairy tale retellings.
Much of the success is achieved I think from what …
I have been saving Some Kind of Fairy Tale to read for about two years, always putting it off to read review copy.
I knew within the first few pages that it was going to be one of those rare books that performs the magic of immersion and so delayed reading until I needed a really good read to pick me up.
In that intervening period Graham Joyce passed away. So my joy at reading this work was tinged with the sad knowledge that there’s no more of his work to be enjoyed, that we have lost an astounding talent.
Some Kind of Fairy Tale is one of those rare books that manages to balance a sense of realism with the fantastic, that manages to rework a fairy tale retelling in a field that is saturated with fairy tale retellings.
Much of the success is achieved I think from what looks like effortless, straightforward writing and a subtle approach to presenting the fantastical elements. Some Kind of Fairy Tale could easily have been written as an urban fantasy where the acceptance of fantastical, or the reality of another world/dimension is taken for granted in the reader. To me though that turns the story into some form of superpower/action story.
I actually felt Some Kind of Fairy Tale dragging my experience of the text the other way. I’m well versed in common fantasy tropes so I find it easy to suspend disbelief when it comes to fairies, fae, etc. But Some Kind of Fairy Tale puts you in that borderland where, at least for a time you are unsure of where the story is going to go. Has Tara, missing presumed dead for 20 years, really been “away with the fairies” or is she suffering some trauma and supressing the memories?
I also suspect that its the focus on the relationships and reactions of Tara’s return that makes this more magical realism than urban fantasy. The tale or plot is less important than the examination of character.
Some Kind of Fairy Tale is fantastical literature and enchanting reading in all senses of the word.
Review of 'Some Kind of Fairy Tale' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
Just finished this one and I'm still digesting it. Much like The Tooth Fairy, this one will require multiple reads. I can feel the story settling into the back of my mind just like the other, and that's a good sign of a tale that will grow with me.
