The Faerie Path

Anita Palmer is about to turn 16 and her sweetheart hires a speedboat to take her out for a ride on the Thames. All is right in her world but then an accident on the water puts both her and her beloved into the hospital. She awakens in pain but is assured that she will be well. Unfortunately, her companion in the accident has not come to and as time passes her worries for him grow.

Evan Thomas had been relatively new to the school and kept largely to himself. He had tried out and attained the part of Romeo to Anita’s Juliet and the acting of being in love slowly became actually being in love.

The days after the accident bring strange dreams and an injury to the head is how Anita rationalizes them. A mysterious gift of a beautiful but initially blank looking book arrives. Suddenly the dreams become more real and she finds herself in a strangely familiar land where she is acknowledged as Tania, the seventh daughter of Oberon and Titania; the lost princess of Faerie.

This is a fascinating look at a magical world filled with beauty, strange powers and hidden dangers. Not least of the last are those under King Oberon’s dominion. Subterfuge and hidden agendas can be found with little digging. In fact, Tania/Anita finds herself with the remarkable ability to walk in the mortal realm as well as this one making her an unwilling pawn in a very large plot.

All is not what it seems in this land and strangest of all, the boy she had given her heart to is unveiled to be Edric Chanticleer. Here, he is a mere servant who had been on a quest to find Tania in the mortal world for Lord Gabriel Drake, the Duke of Weir…her fiancée from 500 years ago. Her alliances and loyalty are clearly torn between the one who held her affection in the mortal realm and the suitor from this magical one.

The wonderfully descriptive writing gives us a good picture of Faerie and those who populate it. Most characters are well drawn and the many sisters particularly are given very different personalities and inclinations.

Tania’s depiction is a bit curious in her rather peculiar lack of or reticence in pressing for more information regarding her past and her disappearance. Likewise, she was engendered with an annoying habit of telling those of whom she was suspicious what she would do to stop them or how she would seek revenge. This simply put her in further danger and made her intentions futile. It may well have been a plot device to move the story along, but felt awkward all the same.

Pacing for the book may feel a bit languid in places but it allows for a more thorough look around the vivid Faerie world. Build up to the climax and the conclusion itself is truly gripping.

One expects this book to do very well amongst its target market. Readers will experience all of the confusion and wonder of our heroine’s journey to understanding the truth of exactly who she is and of what she is capable. One would happily again tread a path with Ms Jones.

January 2007