Customer Reviews

Fairy Tale

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I have read only four of her books, but each one is a masterpiece. Once again Ellis creates an uncanny brilliant story, best described as 'supernatural comedy of manners'. The spiteful interactions of all her characters are spot on and funny. This is combined with the eerie story of being attacked by the fairy folk. Excellent authoress, excellent book.

There are some comic moments in novels that I never forget and that make me smile and laugh when I recall them. This novel has one of those great moments in it. Part of the fun of the novel is in the slow move from realism to the supernatural. The story begins with a couple trying to make a living on a small farm in Wales. The novel's beautiful descriptions of Wales, of the quaint cottage, and the picture-postcard romance of the young couple's country life lull us into the fantasy of a return to older days and times when country people believed in fairies. The strange happenings in the Welsh countryside begin simply, and we are slowly sucked into the weird, eerie atmosphere of the novel. The addition of two wordly women to farming couple's life adds more tensions as social values clash. Humor and social satire increase along with the tension until you reach a most magnificent climax and enjoyable denoument.

One of Ellis's most unusual novels, Fairy Tale is simultaneously bizarre and darkly humorous, intensely realistic and also fantastic, and magical but absurd, a combination certain to intrigue lovers of fine writing and keep them reading with fascination. Seventeen-year-old Eloise and her lover Simon have moved to a small country cottage in Wales where they are in touch with the flowers, birds, and the natural world, all beautifully described by Ellis. With tongue-in-cheek humor, Ellis describes the influence on Eloise of an older woman known as "Moonbird," with her ideas of a "woman's mission," which has resulted in Eloise's self-conscious awareness of the lovely, madonna-like scene she creates as she hand sews nightdresses and petticoats to sell in a shop in the nearby market town. Simon works as a carpenter.

From the opening paragraph with its references to "watchers," Ellis establishes a sense of mystery, and as the action evolves, and Eloise is visited by her ditzy mother Clare and her mother's more realistic friend Miriam, who come to investigate strange goings-on at the cottage, the reader gradually realizes that Eloise is being courted by magical spirits in the form of four men who pay a series of visits to her.

Ellis's trademark humor is revealed especially through scenes in which the silly Clare and the realistic Miriam try to understand and rationalize what is going on, and the reader gradually suspects that the house is haunted and that the men-in-suits have a special destiny in mind for Eloise. In Part II, when Eloise suddenly appears with a baby, who lives in a rush-lined, ancient cradle and never cries, the magic and its power become even more haunting.

Black magic and white magic combine with religious themes as Eloise, Clare, and the other residents of this strange cottage come to grips with the unknown and how to deal with it--if at all. What makes Ellis's novel so unusual, is that in this novel the reader is also confronted with the reverse question--how do the supernatural beings themselves deal with reality? Ellis's suggestion of the dependency of the fairy spirits on humans is unique, to say the least. Entertaining and filled with ironic humor, this novel is also thought-provoking and unique. n Mary Whipple

Eighteen year old Eloise, under the influence of her New Age-y friend Moonbird, chucks life and budding career in London, to share a cottage in "deepest Wales" with her boy friend Simon. Eloise whiles away her days making Victorian style night dresses from linen and antique lace, while Simon casts about for a job as a carpenter. It isn't long before communing with nature becomes a lonely business, and when Eloise begins wishing for a baby, Simon panics and phones her mother, Clare, to come up from London to talk some sense into her.

What ensues is a gentle satire, as the family come together at the cottage of doom. Strange things begin to happen: visits from four men in business suits, needles pricking fingers, confusing meetings with shepherds and game keepers, and, oddest of all, the arrival of a newborn baby with silver hair and pale green eyes. Author Ellis cleverly intermingles elements of ancient Welsh fairy and folk lore with the issues of the mid 1990's, peppering the tale with terse, understated, yet comically witty dialogue; her particular targets are over-the-top feminism and New Age platitudes. The fairies in this book do not fly around sprinkling pixie dust, but they do like to eat meat.

Quirky, amusing, and very enjoyable.

This story is so cute and kooky that it deserves a read. Young Eloise, living in the Welsh countryside is bored just sewing old fashioned flowing dresses and begins thinking about having a baby.

She goes off for a walk one day through the fields and returns with a baby that she insists is her own. And it just gets odder from there!

This is just a wonderful read, perfect for settling down in a comfy spot on a wintry day and devouring.

One of Ellis's most unusual novels, Fairy Tale is simultaneously bizarre and darkly humorous, intensely realistic and also fantastic, and magical but absurd, a combination certain to intrigue lovers of fine writing and keep them reading with fascination. Seventeen-year-old Eloise and her lover Simon have moved to a small country cottage in Wales where they are in touch with the flowers, birds, and the natural world, all beautifully described by Ellis. With tongue-in-cheek humor, Ellis describes the influence on Eloise of an older woman known as "Moonbird," with her ideas of a "woman's mission," which has resulted in Eloise's self-conscious awareness of the lovely, madonna-like scene she creates as she hand sews nightdresses and petticoats to sell in a shop in the nearby market town. Simon works as a carpenter.

From the opening paragraph with its references to "watchers," Ellis establishes a sense of mystery, and as the action evolves, and Eloise is visited by her ditzy mother Clare and her mother's more realistic friend Miriam, who come to investigate strange goings-on at the cottage, the reader gradually realizes that Eloise is being courted by magical spirits in the form of four men who pay a series of visits to her.

Ellis's trademark humor is revealed especially through scenes in which the silly Clare and the realistic Miriam try to understand and rationalize what is going on, and the reader gradually suspects that the house is haunted and that the men-in-suits have a special destiny in mind for Eloise. In Part II, when Eloise suddenly appears with a baby, who lives in a rush-lined, ancient cradle and never cries, the magic and its power become even more haunting.

Black magic and white magic combine with religious themes as Eloise, Clare, and the other residents of this strange cottage come to grips with the unknown and how to deal with it--if at all. What makes Ellis's novel so unusual, is that in this novel the reader is also confronted with the reverse question--how do the supernatural beings themselves deal with reality? Ellis's suggestion of the dependency of the fairy spirits on humans is unique, to say the least. Entertaining and filled with ironic humor, this novel is also thought-provoking and unique. n Mary Whipple

Pillars of Gold: A Novel
The Sin Eater
The Summer House Trilogy (Common Reader Editions)
Other Side of the Fire
The Birds of the Air (Common Reader Editions)
The 27th Kingdom

Fairy Tale: A Novel by Alice Thomas Ellis is the story of Eloise, her husband Simon, her mother Clare, and an old family friend, Miriam. It is the first work of fiction I have read by the late English novelist and commentator, Alice Thomas Ellis. The book is a like a play in two acts. The first half of this book sets up the ending. American readers may find it a bit slow starting, as Ellis has a great knack for dialogue, as a way of showing the reader around so to speak. It's a story about that little house in the country, we city and civilized folks always seem to long for. But, it is much more. While many stories have been written about the dumbfounded city slicker, out of his or her element, in the country, that is not the issue here. Fairy Tale is a story about getting more than you asked for, and being totally unprepared to deal with it. It is how we react to the out of the ordirnary, but on a higher level how we surrender to those mysterious things that, on two levels, the temporal and spritiual, may not be good for us. In the end you might go native, but you might not come back, unless you are lucky. Fairy Tale is a good read, and a good introduction for the American reader into the great writings of Alice Thomas Ellis.

This book has a premise--that fairy folk are interfering in the world of humans--and not much else. The plot takes fully half the book's length to get going, and results in only one real event. That would probably be okay, if the rest of the reader's time were spent with the fairies, or immersed in Welsh culture, or in historical flashbacks. Sadly, though, we are treated to the dreary company of three not-very-likeable women: an insufferable young artisan, her neurotic mother, and the mother's dull friend. If, however, you have read and liked this book, I'd like to recommend Kathryn Davis' "The Walking Tour." Also set in Wales, with a slight element of the supernatural, and a bit more life to it.