Review: The Story Collector

The Story Collector by Evie Gaughan
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

BookBrowse sent me an Advanced Readers' Edition to discuss. I found this book a true delight.

Sometimes when a book has alternateing time lines the story becomes confusing and the reader loses track of where they are in time. Woods handles the switching very well and smoothly.

In 2011 a young woman grieving her failed marriage impetuously boards a plane for Ireland instead of heading home to her parents for rest, recovery and reevaluation. What she finds there is a small village of caring and interesting people. And, in one of her walking excursions a diary of a young girl, who 100 years ago dwelt in the same cottage in which she is staying.

Sarah finds herself engrossed in the tale of Anna, the daughter of the farmer who lived in the small cottage Sarah is now inhabiting. Anna too is suffering a grief of her own that she finds herself not sharing but that is a driving force in her life. Both women become involved with the men who will help them start to sort the pain and move forward through it. For Sarah, it is the local conservation officer, Oran. He and his wife and daughter had once lived in the cottage, too. But his wife died young and he could not remain there once she was gone. He has a daughter, Hazel, a young teen who is quite fascinated by Sarah, the American from New York by way of Boston.

For Anna, it is a young American, as well. Harold Griffin-Krauss has come to Thornwood Village from Oxford where he is studying. He wishes to research the Celtic culture, particularly as it applies to magic, the little folk, superstition. He asks Anna to introduce him to the locals so he can gather their stories and experiences. For Anna, his interest helps her deal with her anxiety to contact the sister she has lost. For Sarah, the story of their exploits helps her to open her mind to the possibility of a future without guilt or sadness.

Hazel at one point quotes Raold Dahl--"Those who don't believe in magic will never find it." In their own ways both Sarah and Anna find magic. And while their future is not truly known at the end of the book, there is at least the promise of happiness and contentment.

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