Rate: 4/5
Medium: Audiobook
Overview (No Spoilers):
The Fairy Bargains of Prospect Hill is set in the early 1900s, when technology is poised to significantly change people’s lives and women are chafing at the roles they’ve traditionally been relegated to. Miller explores a world where magic still is present but is often at odds in the modern world.
I found this story compelling because it follows women who are married adults, whereas so often the protagonists of comparable novels are often in their teens. Sisters, Alaine and Del couldn’t be more different, especially as they take on different roles and slowly lose sight of each other’s driving motivations. Alaine has taken over the family orchard, but as the bank comes calling, everything she values is so close to being taken away from her. What bargains will Alaine make in order to save the farm she loves so dearly? Del on the other hand feels like she has no place on the farm and throws all of her hopes into her upcoming marriage, where she desperately hopes to find her place in society with her new husband.
Despite the danger that is associated with fairy bargains, coming out on the right end of enough deals will make anyone reckless. What will happen when Alaine’s perfectly bargained house of cards collapses?
While I expected The Fairy Bargains of Prospect Hill to be young adult, it contained many deep themes from abuse and birth control, to even a proposed threesome. The character development for the supporting cast is a little one dimensional, especially for the Grafton’s who were just plain mean and petty people. Alaine and Del are the most complex characters as they navigate the world with all of the joys and cruelties it holds. Some of the side characters like Imogene turn out to be more than meets the eye, though her snarky responses are sure to draw a smile.
Overall, The Fairy Bargains of Prospect Hill will lure the reader easily into its fold, before latching on with anxiety and dread as those well placed deals turn sour.
Additional Insights (Spoilers Abound):
- After Em and Del left Fae what happened with those complicated court politics? Did the Antlered Woman take control? Did she take good care of Violet?
- So much anxiety built as we were waiting for Em and Del to hopefully come home. What would have happened to Alaine or Pierce had they gone missing?
- What happened to Pierce Grafton after it was known that Del left him?
- So Violet traded herself before Papa Horacio ever came to Prospect Hill and married Lilabeth? Did Violet know he would marry her sister? I wish that Violet and Imogene had the chance to see each other.
Vocabulary Builder:
Abjuration: to renounce upon oath
The Critiquing Chemist 