It’s an absolute delight today to join the blog blitz for The Faerie Tree by Jane Cable, and to re-share my review. Originally published in March 2015 (goodness, is it really five years since I read this one?), it’s available both as a paperback and for kindle. My thanks to Rachel at Rachel’s Random Resources for the invitation and support – and to Jane for writing books that I’ve enjoyed so very much.
I loved The Cheesemaker’s House with its Yorkshire magic (you’ll find my review here), perhaps enjoyed The Faerie Tree even more, and then she took my breath away with Another You (review here). I’m so looking forward to seeing more of her books published by Sapere Books – I know Endless Skies will soon be available for preorder, and I can’t wait. But I have to – so let’s take another look at The Faerie Tree…
HOW CAN A MEMORY SO VIVID BE WRONG?
In the summer of 1986 Robin and Izzie hold hands under The Faerie Tree and wish for a future together. Within hours tragedy rips their dreams apart.
In the winter of 2006, each carrying their own burden of grief, they stumble back into each other’s lives and try to create a second chance. But why are their memories of 1986 so different? And which one of them is right?
With strong themes of memory, love and grief, The Faerie Tree is a novel as gripping and unputdownable as Jane Cable’s first book, The Cheesemaker’s House, which won the Suspense & Crime category of The Alan Titchmarsh Show’s People’s Novelist competition. It is a story that will resonate with fans of romance, suspense, and folklore.
And it certainly resonated with me… I had the great privilege of being an early reader all those years ago, and here’s my review just once more:
I was immediately engaged by the story of Robin and Izzie, two people who were falling achingly and beautifully in love when tragedy struck. They come back together twenty years later, much changed and damaged people, try to put the pieces back together, make sense of what happened and see if the love is still there.
The story is quite beautifully written and perfectly paced. This is a book that you feel and experience rather than read – the whole emotional content is quite perfectly handled, and there were times when I physically ached for the two central characters. The author really takes the reader under their skin – you might not understand what happened any more than they do, but you feel their hurt and loss with the same intensity.
The characters are wonderfully handled, but so is the setting. The faerie tree of the title is a quite perfect central focus to the story – much of the key action in the story takes place around it, near it or focused on it. It’s vividly described – with its decoration and trinkets left by people hoping for a little magic – and I love the box where children leave personal messages for the faeries. No-one should be put off by the mention of pagan themes – none of us can be averse to a little magic at times, and the story itself is very much of the modern world.
This is essentially a story about two people – two people that you grow to deeply care about – and how they deal and cope with trauma and loss, its impact on memory, and the possibility of second chances when hope seems to be gone.
I really loved it…
Giveaway
With thanks to Jane and Rachel, I’m delighted to offer one lucky reader the chance to win paperback copies of both The Faerie Tree and The Cheesemaker’s House (UK only). Here’s the rafflecopter for entry:
Terms and Conditions UK entries welcome. The winner will be selected at random via Rafflecopter from all valid entries and will be notified by Twitter and/or email. If no response is received within 7 days then Rachel’s Random Resources reserves the right to select an alternative winner. Open to all entrants aged 18 or over. Any personal data given as part of the competition entry is used for this purpose only and will not be shared with third parties, with the exception of the winners’ information. This will passed to the giveaway organiser and used only for fulfilment of the prize, after which time Rachel’s Random Resources will delete the data. I am not responsible for despatch or delivery of the prize.
About the author
Jane Cable writes romantic fiction with the over-riding theme that the past is never dead. She published her first two books independently (the multi award winning The Cheesemaker’s House and The Faerie Tree) and is now signed by Sapere Books. Two years ago she moved to Cornwall to concentrate on her writing full time, but struggles a little in such a beautiful location. Luckily she’s discovered the joys of the plot walk.
Follow Jane on Twitter, on Facebook, or find out more at her website.