Fairy Tale

by Alice Thomas Ellis

After being visited by four men in suits, Eloise declares herself determined to have a baby. She begins behaving very strangely indeed, and takes to wandering in the hills of her Welsh home. Then she returns from her wanderings with a newborn baby. Did she steal it?

Genres: Fiction, Fantasy, Fairy Tales, British Literature, Contemporary, Novels, Paranormal

217 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1996

About the author

Alice Thomas Ellis was short-listed for the Booker prize for The 27th Kingdom. She is the author of A Welsh Childhood (autobiography), Fairy Tale and several other novels including The Summerhouse Trilogy, made into a movie starring Jeanne Moreau and Joan Plowright.

Reviews

[GoldGato · Rating 4 out of 5]

"This place is too far from the shops."

'This place' is an isolated spot in Wales, where the Watchers wait. The speaker is Clare, a wonderful play on upper-middle-class women who believe a man and money (the money would come with the man) make a life. Clare is my favorite character in this novel, as her self-centered remarks bring a bite of humor to the book's structure, which revolves around three disparate women, one clueless male, and one why-are-we-here feline.

The Kings' women had been lost, taken, long ago before time or words could tell, before the forests fell or the mists lifted.

I loved Miriam and Clare and the Gamekeeper and the Cat...and the Welsh-i-ness of it all. If anything the book ended too quickly, as I yearned for a bit more of the lore of Wales and the Kings of the Heights. The dialogue is believable, especially when the two older women are trying to figure out the countryside and what it lacks versus Fortnum and Mason.

She was a rare spirit who was generous in her life, inspirational in her writing, and whose death is a reminder of what has been lost in publishing today.

The Guardian's obituary for the author certainly got it right. Based on the loveliness of this novel, I will be adding A Welsh Childhood to my wish list.

Book Season = Autumn (the season for sacrifices)

[Chad D · Rating 5 out of 5]

Highly entertaining. Margins now littered with smiley-faces, exclamation points, awws, and open-mouthed astonishment. Had to go find a pen at p. 96 when these gems appeared on the same page: "The person looking down on her fellows is a person out on a limb" (think about it) and "Miriam found herself unwontedly clear-sighted to the failings of others and found it comfortless. It had, she mused, something to do with her inability to drink as much as she used to." Miriam's the star of the show, thinking such devastatingly sensible things about said failings of others, of which there are many in this book.

Yes, as the title promises, it is indeed a book about fairies--and how they use stupid mortals, which makes it deliciously creepy, and there are all sorts of little details dropped in that build into a cumulative impression of alien weirdness (hence the exclamation points) (for example, on p. 206, "Simon . . . was relieved to see a familiar face. The thought that it was rather too familiar, occurring unexpectedly on different people, went through his mind yet again"). And even the stupidest of the mortals have their redeeming qualities; actually by this I mean Clare, just not Eloise, oh Eloise, child, you need a minder.

[Patricia · Rating 5 out of 5]

This novelist’s gift is to unsettle and disorient readers. She writes about ordinary happenstances (the novella Summerhouse, which became a highly entertaining movie of the same name, tells of young woman’s engagement, culminating on the morning of the nuptials); the milieu of Fairy Tale is a the back-to-Mother-Earth country setting, where a young couple tries to piece together a self-sustaining life. A novel, in Alice Thomas Ellis’s hands, is not a benign force. Don’t pick up her book if you are uncomfortable with the idea of fiction, like a gumshoe skulking dark alleys, packing heat. True aim and capable of scaring Hell out of you.

[Pamela Toler · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ellis' books always combine elegant prose and a world tilted one variation away from the fields we know. Fairy Tale is no exception.

[Story · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars.

[Donna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredibly fun book, and just slightly creepy. *smile* A young couple moves to the Welsh countryside, and very strange occurrences ensue. Well written, clever, funny, and…. yeah…. just a little creepy. A quick and enjoyable read. Highly recommended.

* * * * *

There is no way to review this book without giving away bits of the plot, so I will say no more about the story itself. Just trust me. Read it. You’ll love it.

Now….as to the reason I read it: My landlady handed it to me when she heard about my plan to head off to Wales for seven days at the seaside (four weeks from today….the countdown has begun). I’ve booked a “room with a view” in a quaint bed & breakfast, just steps from the beach. I am so looking forward to celebrating the completion of exams and the end of my school year at the LSE. I plan on doing plenty of reading, lots of writing, and having no decisions more difficult than whether to walk north or south on the beach this morning, and what wine to have with dinner. And oh yes….sleep. I’ll be doing LOTS of sleeping.

I do hope I don’t run into any strange men. ‘Nuff said. (Eeek!)

Fairy Tale is full of wonderful strings of words. This is one of my favourites: “The days went by like carelessly turned pages, so that she seemed to have missed whole passages, and sometimes felt that she must have turned two pages without noticing.” [p. 103]

[Jenny Lyon · Rating 2 out of 5]

I hadn't read any reviews about this book before I read it. In fact, I picked it up by chance on the bookshelf of my apartment (my landlady left a lot of her books behind). So now, when i see all the fantastic reviews, I wonder if we were reading the same book.

In short, I really didn't like it. I found parts of the narrative too drawn out, while others, that deserved more attention, given a passing glance. I love fairy tales as a rule, send the idea from the blurb sounded great. It just didn't do it for me. The story centres on Eloise, an 18 year old who grows stranger by the day thanks to the influence of the haunted house she lives in and the not so friendly fairies living around her.

It's not very clear when the book is set, though you feel a modernity to it. I wanted to ask questions, know more about the history of the house, the Queens and the fairies generally. But it's not very detailed in that respect. Maybe for some this might be intriguing, but for me, was too open ended and unclear.

I also thought the ending was strange, unclear and the final few lines annoyingly cliched.

[Poofygoo · Rating 4 out of 5]

I hate Jane Austen, so I loved how this book subtly parodied all of Austen's simpering womenfolk.

[Nina · Rating 5 out of 5]

WHAT A FUNNY LITTLE BOOK.

[T. Frohock · Rating 4 out of 5]

A witty and enchanting novel with subtle undertones of darkness. I just loved it.

[lucy black · Rating 1 out of 5]

1.5/5 Fairy Tale was not good. This is a novel about a young couple living in Wales, in a cursed/blessed at the base of a fairy hill. Then her mum and godmother visit and the tone of the writing becomes boomers blunder through a folk horror. Some of the fairly lore was cool but this novel is so bad and hard to follow and boring.

[Patricia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ellis hilariously, though a bit maliciously, skewers Moonbirdly warping of nature to one's own agenda. The portrayal of faeries as ancient Welsh literature partly saw them made a witty counter to sentimentality. But something about the picture didn't work for me. Maybe the novel seemed to replace Moonbird's sentimentality with another not totally satisfactory picture of nature, which may not be a fair criticism of what Ellis intended to do. But, in spite of my discomfort, it was hard to put this novel down, and I'll be looking for another one of Ellis's.

[Deodand · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ellis manages the subject of fairies in a modern way. It's easy to fall into previous writers' steps here, since much territory has been covered. This book is not twee or cute - it's actually a suspense story. It's a short book and no words are wasted. I got the sense that every chapter was trimmed to its essentials, which is something I like to see. The characters are very fleshed-out for such a short read.

[Tammy V · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ellis's latest work, this read is a page turner weaving myth, character development through interior dialogue and the dark wood ever encroaching on the light. Masterfully done in true fairytale fashion (and I don't mean Disney's confectionar sugarized versions). It ended too soon. I had to buy this one - my local library only has 2 of her books.

[Anne · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is terrific--funny, spooky, deeper than it seems at first. These are not tame fairies, but fairies from an older, darker time, from a time before humans counted time. My only regret is that this was Ellis's last novel, and I have no more to read.

[Sally · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book.It takes place in rural Wales in modern times. I can't say much more without spoiling it.You'll have to take my word for it. The writing is brilliant, not a word is wasted.

[Georgina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mysterious and compelling and funny(ha ha )

[Lisa Fransson · Rating 1 out of 5]

Staple diet: Fairy tales. I grew up in the forests of Sweden and I have devoured fairy tales, ever since my parents found me inside the hollow of an ancient oak in a glade in the wood (ok, that last part about the oak isn't true, but the rest is). Fairy tales, in my view, should be dark, eerie, full of magic and over-brimming with nature. Going by the blurb of this book, it ought to tick all the boxes. And even when reading it I was nearly brought to tears, because I felt it was such a wasted opportunity. The book is massively over-written and I had to read whole paragraphs twice to try to work out some finer point or other being made. I was continually being told how various characters felt and what their character traits were and none of them were consistent with themselves and often did not fit with what was going on at the time. But please. Go back, clean it up, rewrite it. It has the potential to be beautiful.

[Dark-Draco · Rating 2 out of 5]

Definitely a book of two halves!

The first half is soooo boring. The characters are generally unlikable, although as a dedicated country bumpkin, the 'city' person's view of nature did make me smile. But there were more than a few occasions that I thought about giving up.

The second half redeems it somewhat. It takes a very dark turn. These fairies aren't the cute little sprites that adorn modern children's bedrooms. These are the old King's of the Pagan woods, that don't really care for humans unless they can use them. The story becomes weirder and the characters, although still unlikeable, are at least slightly more pitiable as they try to come out the other side of the story unscathed.

So an ok read, but not one that would make me rush out to read other books by this author.

[Heidi Clark · Rating 3 out of 5]

How to describe this book? Quirky and fun, magical yet mundane. The author writes intelligent, lilting prose paced smoothly but with odd little tilts and jumps in narrative that keep the reader a tiny bit disoriented, appropriately so. This is the story of a lovely if self-centered young woman, run away to the country with her boyfriend to live a simple life...only to be sucked into the life and times of the Twyleth Teg, welsh fairies struggling awkwardly to make do in modern life. Likably realistic characters make this brush with fay seem plausible. And don’t we all have friends who seem a little unsuited for this world, a little touched? A quick, easy and fun read.

[Paulette · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really disliked this book. A young couple moves to the Welsh countryside, and strange things begin to happen. The characters were unpleasant, opinionated, and self-absorbed, and it was difficult to muster any interest in them. It seems as though the author was much more interested in the characters’ quirks and views than was really warranted. After awhile, even though odd things begin to happen, the story just became boring and baffling. The otherworldly happenings are not really interesting or coherent. The elements are there for a very moody, atmospheric story, but it never really comes together. Could have been so much better.

[Amy C. · Rating 3 out of 5]

There was a lot to like about this book, but I didn’t quite love it. A creepy feel, some witty phrasing, and an amusing assortment of characters made me want to keep reading. But it felt too rough, underdeveloped in places and rambling in others. The first half was somewhat slow reading, but the last half was much more engaging. It felt like an extended campfire story... really enjoyable and memorable, if you don’t stop to ask questions.

[Meredith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautifully written, the kind to savor.
A modern Alice in Wonderland of sorts. Disturbingly enchanting.

[Anna Dowdall · Rating 5 out of 5]

Stunning, I want to read all her other books now

[Michelle Rogers · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fairy Tale is a well written, easy to read eery story.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fairy Tale is an apt title. Although told in contemporary times, it uses traditional fairy tale elements--fantasy, legend, myth, characters' odd acceptance of strange goings-on, and a bit of suspense and horror. The author likely had fun writing it. Reader commentaries mention humor and fun in this, but it's dark humor. Ellis expresses a less than romantic view of nature juxtaposed with popular utopianisms. Imaginative characters include faeries who are not the usual winged sprites but take on other forms to further their conniving plans. There is a Rosemary's Baby mood to them. The three female characters are distinct and opinionated. The two older women are interesting, experienced, and sarcastic; the younger is a naïve airhead. The seemingly bizarre mother daughter relationship is realistic on several levels. Little attention is paid to the husband. Although he's often present, he is not pivotal to the events and remains a blasé enigma, caring more about the cat than his wife and it's uncertain if he's considered good, bad or indifferent. This short novel isn't what I was expecting and was dubious at first, but I enjoyed its atmosphere, simplicity, use of the ordinary, relatable imagery, everyday language (except the occasional word I didn't know the meaning of), and satire. The characterizations seem somewhat incomplete, but the narrative works overall to tell a fantastical story with dark undertones and pointed cynicism aimed at the affectations of progressive ideals. The Goodreads summary above describes this book to a T. There is originality and cleverness in the story. I initially thought of a 3 star rating, but upon reflection, give it 4.

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

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 droll 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 precocious 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 are fond of eating meat, lots of it.

Quirky, amusing, and very enjoyable.

[Maryam Noor · Rating 3 out of 5]

The writing was excellent and it was a fun read. Although I did not like the plot or the characters, the authors writing style made it impossible for me to stop reading. The pacing was slow, and I usually hate books that drag on, but if the author is able to create the perfect atmosphere and sense of mystery then it would definitely do the trick. The book did this flawlessly. However, it started to go downhill at the ending to such an extent that i was struggling to finish it.
I was about to give this a 4 star rating but after much consideration i knocked down one star. After reading this book i felt quite awkward. The plot was lacking something and was quite uninteresting. Except for Miriam and the mother, the characters were quite undeveloped. The mother was multi dimensional but unlikeable. Some scenes were just plain weird The talking baby .
My main problem was the ending. The writing suddenly became tasteless and I felt like a fifth grader reading a tenth graders textbook. I was about to give it up but the fact that I was just so close to finishing it made me read it. I did finish it, but i was so bored i didn't understand a single thing.
It was quite a fun read. It did have flaws but I was hooked until the last 20 pages.

[Nicole · Rating 4 out of 5]

The thing I like about Alice Thomas Ellis is that her characters encounter strange and extraordinary and indeed supernatural things, but they continue to behave like people who are not characters in a science fiction or fantasy book. In scifi/fantasy I sometimes feel like characterization takes a back seat, or it becomes a means of showing the strangeness of the created world or something, and as a result the writing can seem stilted and workmanlike. I think this is one of those things that I don't like about the genre. I'm generalizing, of course, from my experience as a young person reading those series that everybody reads when they are a child in the seventies and a nerd who reads science fiction and fantasy. I'm sure there is better. But still there is this....thing.

Ellis is not interested in creating another world. She's interested in observing this one, and she puts her characters in weird situations to see what they will do. And what they will do is pretty much the same as what they would do in a non-extraordinary situation, with all their weaknesses and pettiness intact.

[Terry Mark · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love all of this authors books but this is a little different from most. It is full of wry and very wicked humour as normal and always full of great characters, but the further you get into this novel the darker it gets until it gets rather sinister and totally bizarre at the end and has a great ending. In amongst the darker parts it still intermingled with some chuckles. Great book.