Folk Keeper [Hardcover]

Franny Billingsley (Author), Leonid Gore (Illustrator)

Book Description

"Here in the Cellar," Corinna says, "I control the Folk. Here, I'm queen of the world." As Folk Keeper at the Rhysbridge Home, she feeds the fierce, dark-dwelling cave Folk; keeps them from souring the milk, killing the chickens, and venting their anger on the neighborhood; and writes it all down in her Folk Record. Since only boys are Folk Keepers, she has disguised herself as a boy, Corin, and it is a boy and a Folk Keeper she intends to stay.

Yet there comes a moment when someone else knows the truth. Old, dying Lord Merton not only knows she is a girl, but knows some of her other secrets as well. It is at his bidding that she, as Corin, leaves Rhysbridge to become Folk Keeper and a member of the family on Cliffsend, an isle where the Folk are fiercer than ever they were at Rhysbridge.

It is on Cliffsend that Corinna comes face to face with herself, with the powers she does have (some quite unexpected) and those she does not have (even if she lies and says she does). Who really is she? Why does her hair grow two inches a night? Why does the sea draw her? What does she really want? And what future can and will she choose?

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

She is never cold, she always knows exactly what time it is, and her hair grows two inches while she sleeps. Fifteen-year-old Corinna Stonewall--the only Folk Keeper in the city of Rhysbridge--sits hour after hour with the Folk in the dark, chilly cellar, "drawing off their anger as a lightning rod draws off lightning." The Folk are the fierce, wet-mouthed, cave-dwelling gremlins who sour milk, rot cabbage, and make farm animals sick. Still, they are no match for the steely, hard-hearted, vengeful orphan Corinna who prides herself in her job of feeding, distracting, and otherwise pacifying these furious, ravenous creatures. The Folk Keeper has power and independence, and that's the way she likes it.

One day, Corinna is summoned by Lord Merton to come to the vast seaside estate Cliffsend as Folk Keeper and family member--for she is the once-abandoned child he has been looking for. It is at Cliffsend that Corinna learns where her unusual powers come from, why she is drawn to the sea, and finally, what it means to be comfortable in her own skin. Written in the form of a journal, The Folk Keeper is a powerful story of a proud, ferociously self-reliant girl who breaks out of her dark, cold, narrow world into one of joy, understanding, and even the magic of romance. Franny Billingsley, author of the critically acclaimed fantasy Well Wished, has created a vividly portrayed, deliciously frightening novel that will have readers glued to the pages until the very un-bitter end. (Ages 10 and older) --Karin Snelson

From Publishers Weekly

Billingsley (Well Wished) imagines a fascinating subterranean world and infuses a strong feminist theme into this poetically wrought tale featuring a 15-year-old orphan. Corinna Stonewall, who earned her name for her stubbornness, is at odds with a hierarchical society filled with lords and ladies. Rather than succumb to her fate of becoming a servant girl, she reinvents herself as a boy named Corin and secures a position as "Folk Keeper." Her job is dangerous: she must protect the mainland village of Rhysbridge against the harmful pranks of the Folk, devilish underground creatures who thrive in darkness. But Corinna feels freer in her dank cellar quarters than in the outside world. Then one day, a mysterious dying man arrives who seems to see past her disguise and hires her to work at the island estate he shares with his wife, Lady Alicia. Drawing on storytelling traditions and yet creating a completely original labyrinthine underworld, the author sends Corinna on a spiritual as well as physical journey. The tale unfolds through Corinna's Folk Record, her most prized possession, which chronicles the activities of the dark-dwelling creatures. While fending off the fiercer breed of Folk threatening Lady Alicia's seaside manor, the heroine makes discoveries about her past, the special powers she possesses and her strange attraction to the sea. The plot thickens as Corinna struggles to keep her gender and special powers a secret and fights her growing feelings for a kindred spirit: Lady Alicia's son, Finian. Strong visual imagery manages both to orient readers and yet to leave them with an odd feeling of disorientation ("The walls were heavy draperies, stone folded upon stone, lustrous with damp"). In this way, Billingsley brilliantly creates a reading experience that parallels Corinna's own experience. The author's ear for language, her use of classic motifs and her stalwart heroine make this novel an evocative, unforgettable read. Ages 10-14. (Oct.)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 176 pages
• Publisher: Atheneum; First Edition edition (October 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0689828764
• ISBN-13: 978-0689828768
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (32 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,409,685 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

26 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Dark, poetical story with strong characters!! A great read!, June 15, 2001

By 

Chess Heart "paxbear" (Canton, OH) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Folk Keeper (Hardcover)

The Folk Keeper Submitted 6/15/01

Corinna Stonewall is a Folk Keeper. That is, in the strange and beautiful world of Ms. Billingsley's book, it is her job to lurk in the dark, cavernous underground Cellar distracting and pacifying the hideous Folk, creatures described by another Keeper as "mostly wet mouth and teeth." The Folk are constantly angry and ravenous-- never a good combination-- and they have the power to ruin crops, spoil milk, rot eggs and meat and cause animals to sicken and die. Any estate or village, therefore, desperately needs their Folk Keeper, and Corinna knows this well. Whereas anywhere else in the village she would merely be a slave or laborer, as Folk Keeper she has power and she knows it: "here in the Cellar, I control the Folk. Here, I'm queen of the world."

Perhaps like all queens, Corinna has secrets, not the least of which is that she is pretending to be a boy, for no female can be Folk Keeper. As Corin the Keeper of the Folk, she can spend long hours away from people, which allows her to keep her other secrets well hidden. Secrets like how she is never cold, how she always knows the exact time, as if a clock were running through her veins, and how her hair grows two inches every night as she sleeps.

Some of these secrets are threatened when old, dying Lord Merton comes to her, and fetches her away to his vast estate where the lure of the sea and the power of controlling a great many more Folk tempts Corinna to leave her small village. Once there, Corinna must contend with Folk that are far more fierce than those she's used to, a young man named Finian whom she forms a fast but tenuous friendship, and the enigmatic, possibly dangerous Sir Edward, who may be more than he appears.

Told in the form of a diary, the reader follows Corinna through her early stages of a Folk Keeper and how she managed to hide her secrets, to the surprising end where she discovers her true heritage and everything falls into place. Corinna's language is poetic and beautiful, describing everything around her in languid eloquence. Describing a party she attends on Midsummer's Eve, she writes in her journal: "A footman handed me a glass. Tiny lines of bubbles streamed through the pale liquid. The fiddle cried out in a language that everyone but I understood. Like pieces of a kaleidoscope, the ladies and gentlemen fell into patterns of color on the Ballroom floor."

Ms. Billingsley is the author of "Well Wished", a title that won Best Book of the Year by School Library Journal. In "The Folk Keeper", her second work, she has created a beautiful world and fine character in Corinna, one who is immediately likeable in spite of her rough exterior-- perhaps even BECAUSE of it. As female characters go, Corinna is brave and inventive despite all of her stubbornness. She is a strong character in an age where too many female leads are still portrayed as helpless shrinking violets.

As noted, the writing style of "Folk Keeper" is somewhere between prose and poetry--what a friend of mine calls "High English" of the almost Shakespearian sort. Because very few people speak in High English (especially teens & young adults for whom this book is geared toward), some readers-- especially those who are still not masterful at reading yet-- may miss out on the subtleties of the text or become confused. Still, it is a brilliant work and highly recommended.

For those students or readers who find the eloquence of the book difficult, it is available in an unabridged audio format with a masterful performance by Ms. Marian Tomas Griffin. I am a reading teacher and use both audio and text with my upper-grade students when we read this book. Both formats come highly recommended!!

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Significant Juvenile Fantasy Novel of the Decade!, January 11, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Folk Keeper (Hardcover)

Surely one of the most significant juvenile fantasy novels of the decade, THE FOLK KEEPER is a brilliant novel woven of intricate plot, masterful characterization, and deliciously poetic language. The compelling story of Corinna, a folk keeper who earns her place in society by tending the dangerous and ravenous folk of the underworld, is told in diary format, a device that heightens the immediacy of her search for self as she uncovers her true nature.

This is an essential purchase and a must read!

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What a fabulous read!, July 14, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Folk Keeper (Hardcover)

I was completely absorbed in Corinna's terrifying adventures as "folk keeper" and in figuring out the mystery of her background. What an unusual heroine! What a great setting! What an intriguing premise! What an astounding PLOT! I don't want to spoil the twists and turns for you, but trust me: this book is a flat-out great read.