Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett

In 1909, Dr. Emily Wilde visits the (fictional) Scandinavian island country of Ljosland to do research for her encyclopaedia of faeries. Emily is interested only in faeries, and isn’t very comfortable with people. Unfortunately, she got off on the wrong foot with the Hrafnsvik village leader, and isn’t sure why. Her rented cabin is sparsely furnished, and the two meals provided daily are barely edible. Fortunately, a brownie she calls Poe bakes lovely bread after she agrees to keep a path clear of snow for him. Then her Oxford colleague Professor Wendell Bambleby arrives unexpectedly, along with two of his students, and moves into the cabin. The cabin gets more comfortable, the students chop their firewood, and the villagers like the handsome golden-haired professor. Wendell wants Emily to coauthor a paper with him, and will even help find more fae, if he can ever get up early enough to travel with her.

Hrafnsvik has a changeling, and a girl who was taken and later returned by the courtly fae. When two young women are later kidnapped by the fae, Emily has come to care for the villagers, and volunteers to search for them along with the charming and infuriating Wendell and her unusual dog Shadow. I was hoping for a cozy fantasy read when I started this book, but readers of fairy tales will expect some danger from the cold and occasionally cruel fae. The worldbuilding is very well done, and prickly Emily becomes more likable. A sequel, Emily Wilde’s Map of the Otherlands, which also features Wendell Bambleby has just been published. Books by Seanan McGuire are a good readalike, as is the Invisible Library series by Genevieve Cogman.

Brenda