My letter “E” pick for this year’s A to Z Book List was Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett. This one has been out a few years and of course, on my TBR list and I’m very happy to say I finally got around to reading it. The story is essentially comprised of the field notes of Professor Emily Wilde of Cambridge who, along with her trusty dog Shadow, arrive in the small village of Hrafnsvik. This is an icy, winter-blasted place that Emily hopes will provide her with information on never-before seen species of faeries, including the elusive Courtly Fae, who often roam among humans in disguise.

Professor Wendell Bambleby – Emily’s colleague at Cambridge – arrives to bedevil her. There’s a barely-friendly rivalry between them based on the fact that Bambleby is a man, and a full year younger than Emily, yet he’s tenured and she is not. Wendell Bambleby is an absolute delight and treats Emily like an equal. He’s charming, incredibly good-looking, falls into bed with besotted women on a regular basis, but is lazy and relatively nonchalant about the research Emily is so severely dedicated to – all of which set Emily’s teeth on edge as her social skills are awkward at best and she’s grumpy more often than not. She agrees to work with Bambleby to gather information and co-author a paper for a prestigious upcoming conference on Dryadology that she has never been invited to before. 

That’s as much as I can share of the plot without major spoilers but let me say that I absolutely loved this magical book. It reads at a sedate pace but it never seemed to drag. Emily’s knowledge of and encounters with the Fae are so detailed and entrancing, I felt immediately sucked into that world. The rivalry-to-romance between her and Bambleby (along with their very entertaining banter) was a joy to read as it unraveled. Bambleby won my heart despite his vanity. I’ve always had a thing for Irish guys, and an Irish guy who’s hiding a big secret is especially captivating. This is an easy five stars and will definitely be a treasured re-read again and again.