The Cottingley Secret: A Novel

I'm new to Hazel Gaynor, and the premise of The Cottingley Secret intrigued me more than any of her other books. First off, I didn't know Arthur Conan Doyle wrote anything except Sherlock Holmes stories, so kudos to Hazel for helping me learn something. Second, I didn't know about his interest in fairy life. Third, the premise itself feels fresh and new, which is no mean feat in the book world. I think it was Shakespeare who said there are only 30-something types of plots? And that was in the 15th and 16th centuries, so 500-odd years later, "it's been done" is even more prevalent.The Cottingley Secret stands out for all the right reasons. Perhaps most importantly, I have no trouble believing fairies could exist in a place like Cottingley, its beck, and greater Yorkshire (and I grew up a "good Baptist girl" who was taught, fairies and the like are for stories, and if you insinuate anything else, you've got a soul problem. No mean feat, again). I'm usually not much on setting, and I must tell you, Hazel's setting "popped" like they rarely do for me. I knew the beck, in all seasons. I understood Frances' hatred of Yorkshire winters, but actually loved experiencing them with her. I could feel the shells of Scarborough's beaches clacking in my hands.Additionally, I loved the fairy premise in and of itself. The Cottingley Secret has a distinct flavor of "The Secret Garden for grown-ups." Sometimes, the investigation and controversy of the fairies drags on a bit. But if you can look past that, you find the stories of people getting through war as best they can, which is all you can do in war. You find triumphs of the human spirit. Because the main characters are women, you find subtle themes of feminine growth and power. I also loved the juxtaposition of fairies and war, because they don't go together. The fairies not only save Cottingley Secret from becoming another "typical war novel," but remind readers, fairy tales are more than an escape in war or hardship. They're a place to find hope again. They're a place to grow. They contextualize sacrifice and fear, and make them a little more palatable.I felt the split time element was a bit weak, which I'll get to. That said, I did enjoy the connections between Olivia and Frances and Elsie when they arose. Having spent the past ten years as part of elder care in my own family, I appreciated Olivia's scenes with Nana, and her loving care of not only Nana and Pappy, but their legacies. I loved Something Old, which functions as a character in itself. And while Cottingley Secret didn't have as many "popping" scenes as When We Were Young and Brave did for me, it had some. Most of them occurred within the context of Something Old. Look for Olivia's dream of the flying books, and the fairy door.As mentioned, the split time element isn't as strong as it could be. Sometimes it contributes to a dragging pace, and sometimes it makes focusing on the story a bit difficult. Some elements in it, I didn't feel fit. For instance, I liked how Ellen Hogan is Olivia's great-grandmother, but in almost 200 pages, there's no real sense of how, or if, Martha fits into the story other than as Nana. There's no real sense of who the red-haired girl really is, or if she exists. And while the fairy element is lovely, I wasn't always sure what, or where, it was contributing.Other threads, such as Olivia's almost-romance with Ross Bailey, seem out of place, or tacked on to please a "modern" audience. Other threads, while great, feel funny in context of the story's main purpose (why did we need over 100 more pages once World War I ended, if the book was mostly about both fairies and war)? With all that said though, I thoroughly enjoyed Cottingley Secret. I enthusiastically recommend it if, like me, you grew up with Secret Garden-esque, Narnian, or Hogwarts-like compartments in your imagination. Even if not, it's still a great fairy tale for grown-ups, the kind I think we all need.

I was engaged from the start. I even reviewed many of the facts and will enjoy more sleuthing of my own. Thank you for the adventure.

The Cottingly Secret is my favorite so far. I like that she ties the past to the present in the book

The Cottingley Secret by Hazel Gaynor is a story set in 1917 and the present day. In 1917, a young girl, Frances Griffiths, has just moved to Cottingley, England with her mother when her father leaves to fight in the Great War. They stay with her mother's sister and her family. Frances and her cousin, Elsie, become inseperable. One day, the girls claim to have photographed fairies. As the story spreads, it sparks the imagination of all of England. In present day Ireland, Olivia Kavanagh has inherited an old bookshop from her grandfather. She discovers an old forgotten manuscript written by Frances telling her story. What really happened all those years ago and what is Olivia's connection to the story?One of the things I love about well-written historical fiction books is when they spark my curiousity and I have to do some research to find out more. I was fascinated as the story unfolded. A young girl finding hope in a dreadful time through fairies and then, an entire nation latching onto the story, some with hope and some with skepticism, but all with fascination, as the story spreads like an out of control fire. Normally, when reading dual time line books, I'm not very interested in the present day part of the story. However, I loved Olivia's story. Inheriting a bookshop and remembering who you are through a love of books? That speaks directly to this bibliophile's heart!

I had always wondered about how so many people became so enamored with the Cottingley fairies and actually what the story was about. Is this the true story? I have no idea but it certainly was interesting and also one could understand why some people did come to believe there were fairies in the photos. As I child I used to build little homes for fairies underneath the bushes that flanked out house hoping the fairies would come. If they did, I had never saw them or ever had evidence of them. Would have loved for them to show up though so maybe that is why so many people truly wanted to believe the photographs contained real fairies. Even Arthur Conan Doyle believed these girls! With today's photoshopped pictures it is sometimes hard to believe what one sees in the newspapers without wondering if it is really true. Think of what those two girls could do now with modern technology, but then they would have been disproved very quickly with the very same technology! An interesting read, though I thought at times it did get bogged down, but I'm glad I read it.

I enjoyed this book more than I thought I would. The author really brought to life the girls and their families from Cottingley. I thought the backdrop of the real fear surrounding WW1 was a perfect frame for the whimsical life of Frances and her cousin Elsie. The other family members were distinctly written. I loved Ellen Hogan and was pleasantly surprised that she was Olivia's great grandmother.I also liked Olivia's story and her discovery of the manuscript Frances wrote. I was happy that she left her old, unfulfilling life behind. The little Irish town sounded lovely. Although I thought her making a living selling used books was less believable than Frances seeing fairies. When she met Iris' widowed father I was sure there would be a cliched true love romance, but it wasn't, thankfully.I recommend this interesting book.

Being familiar with, and fascinated by, the story of the Cottingley fairies, I was looking forward to Hazel Gaynor’s re-imagining of this incredible tale based on true events. I wasn’t disappointed.In 1917, after Frances Griffiths’ father left to fight in WW1, Frances and her mother travelled from South Africa to Yorkshire, to stay with family for the duration. Amid the strangeness of a new and very different country and worry about her father, nine year old Frances finds herself being drawn into a new family situation. She and her cousin Elsie get on famously, despite the age difference, and became fast friends.Already a girl who enjoyed fairy stories, Frances was enchanted when Elsie took her to the beck at the back of the house. She felt it was a magical place and knew she could spend hours there.[quote] At the bottom of the ravine was a glittering stream, about two feet in depth and six feet wide. A waterfall plunged from a shale shelf of shale rock to the right, tumbling in three broad steps towards the stream, where the water bubbled and boiled. Dappled shade from the trees cast intriguing shadows onto the water, while the flickering sunlight painted the early spring foliage in shades of gold and emerald and soft buttery yellow.[unquote]In present day Howth, Ireland, Olivia Kavanagh has inherited her dearly loved and missed grandfather’s bookshop, Something Old, and the cottage where her grandparents lived. Her grandmother is in a nursing home suffering from Alzheimer’s. Trying to put her impending marriage to the back of her mind, Olivia concentrates on the task facing her. Her grandfather has also left her a document—‘Notes on a Fairy Tale by Frances Griffiths’. And so the connection between past and present is established as it becomes apparent Olivia’s grandmother had grown up in Cottingley.The Cottingley Secret is such a lovely story, written beautifully, magical and atmospheric. And amazing really to think that two young girls caused a controversy that spanned decades, and included people such as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle who believed the fairy photographs were authentic and went a long way to confirming the existence of supernatural phenomena. A prank that was meant only for family took on a life of its own and brought the girls to the attention of the media and beyond causing, along with the inevitable negative reactions, hope and enchantment for those who wanted something uplifting to believe in during the dark days of the first world war.The story alternates seamlessly between the early 1900s and 2017 and once again Hazel Gaynor has done a brilliant job of combining fact with fiction. I became immersed in both timelines and enjoyed them very much. The characters, both real and fictional, are compelling and portrayed authentically adding a great deal of depth to the story, along with the beautifully vivid imagery.The story doesn’t quite finish when you see the words The End. The author’s notes, the fairy photographs and a note from Christine Lynch, Frances’ daughter, are an added bonus. Even though Frances admitted four of the photographs were faked, as I understand it she maintained the fifth was not. It would be interesting as Christine Lynch says, to have the photograph analysed with today’s technology. Or perhaps it’s nicer just to hold on to the magic…

I had never heard of Hazel Gaynor but I had heard of the Cottingley fairies and had seen one of the famous photos but didn’t really know the story behind what actually happened. I am not usually a lover of fairies or stories about fairies but I was more interested in this because it is based on some true events.In 1917, two girls took photos which appeared to show themselves with fairies. These pictures caused a sensation at a time when people were looking for hope in a country devastated by the First World War, when so many families had lost young men. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle became interested and wrote a book about the fairies.This book is a fictionalised account of Frances Gifford’s story and shows how she and Elsie Wright were swept up into something out of their control and how it affected the rest of their lives. Interweaved with Frances’ story is that of Olivia Kavanagh who is at a crossroads in her life with her wedding day looming in London and we see her in present-day Ireland, when she inherits her grandfather's secondhand bookshop. She doesn't seem to have time to revitalise a failing bookshop in Ireland but it seems it was her grandfather's wish. Amongst all the clutter in the bookshop, she discovers a manuscript written by Frances Griffiths, about her life in Yorkshire, England at the beginning of the 20th century.Each chapter is from either Frances’ or Olivia’s POV and the distinction is clear and easy to follow. Overall, I was charmed by Francis’s story but totally underwhelmed by Olivia’s. I understand the need to have Olivia’s character, otherwise this book would be too similar to all the other countless books written on this subject but actually I found Olivia boring and predictable and was really tempted to skip through her parts. I found myself not caring about what happens to her at all.The chapters that actually had the fairies and the background story behind that was so much more interesting to me and, strangely, I found those parts less predictable (even though I already knew the basis of the story).Overall, I thought that The Cottingley Secret was well written but some parts were much more interesting than others, so it’s just an average review from me. It’s not made me want to hunt out more books by this author.

Do you believe in fairies?This is the premise of this enchanting novel from Hazel Gaynor, which draws part of the plot from the real-life story of the Cottingley Fairies. When I heard about this book I was intrigued as to the direction Hazel Gaynor would take it. And I wasn't disappointed!In present-day Ireland, Olivia Kavanagh inherits her grandfather's secondhand bookshop. Olivia is at a crossroads in her life. She's engaged to be married, the date is hurtling towards her, and she's inundated with emails from her wedding planner. She certainly doesn't have time to revitalise a failing bookshop. But amongst the clutter she discovers a manuscript written by Frances Griffiths, about her life in Yorkshire, England, at the beginning of the 20th century.I found it hard to decide which timeline I liked the best, and in the end I couldn't! I loved hearing about Frances's life, and how she and her cousin inadvertently became involved in what was to be known as one of the greatest hoaxes of the 20th century, and why it was so important for the people of that time to believe in magic. I also enjoyed how Olivia, in the present-day, rediscovered her true self and realised what was really important to her. I particularly loved the description of the bookshop (it reminded me a bit of You've Got Mail), and the characters of Ross and Iris.The Cottingley Secret is a truly enchanting story and I absolutely loved it! I would recommend it to anyone who loves reading historical stories with a little bit of a mystery, or quirky tales with engaging characters and more than a sprinkling of magic! One of my favourites this year. It's like a hug in a book, and made me feel all warm and fuzzy!

I was already aware of the Cottingley Fairies event, having been fascinated about it as a teenager and was intrigued to see how it could be used as the basis for a fictional story.Mastering the dual timeline narrative, Hazel Gaynor switches easily from the early 1900's to the present day, combining two enchanting tales. In the early 1900's, young cousins Elsie and Frances take photographs of fairies in their Yorkshire town, convincing none other than Sir Arthur Conan Doyle that these mystical creatures really do exist.In the present day, Olivia is left a bookshop by her recently deceased grandfather, and along with it a manuscript about the Cottingley fairies. Trying to cope with grief and personal issues, Olivia sets on a path to discover the truth surrounding the story of Elsie and Frances, and finds past and present knitting together.An endearing book that I polished off in just two sittings. I loved Olivia's story and was captivated by the tale of Frances, Elsie and the fairies. Beautifully written, I felt transported to the magical Yorkshire beck and a time of innocence. A wonderful read if you enjoy historical fiction and a touch of magic.

I already knew about the Cottingley fairies from when I was a young child. I believed in them to the extent that I would sit for hours waiting in my Aunt’s orchard to see them. I was only five but I still think I really saw some.This book is so believable, all of the characters, especially the invented ones. Sympathetically written, incredibly well researched and a joy to read. Thank you so much Hazel.