Book editor Signe Pike was unhappy with working a corporate daily grind. Things come to a head when her father dies, leaving Signe confused about her ambivalent relationship with him and intensely grieving. She wants to recapture her childhood’s happy times, which felt magical.

After a trip to Mexico lures her into thinking that nature spirits might exist and desperately wanting to find proof that will restore the enchantment of her childhood, Signe books a trip to England, the Isle of Man, Ireland, and Scotland. In the U.K., she meets a quirky cast of characters, some famous, like artist Brian Froud. She finds an assortment of believers and unbelievers everywhere she goes. Some of her experiences seem psychic, while others are inexplicable.

While she admits she doesn’t find proof, she does find reasons to cling to hope. Questioning whether or not her experiences are merely her imagination, she wonders if that makes them any less real. And she does find beguiling evidence.

I enjoyed this book. Signe is a “normal” person (whatever that may be) who does seem a bit self-conscious about her quest. She pleads with us to understand she’s not crazy. But she didn’t come across to me as odd at all. Deep down inside, don’t most of us want mystery and magic in our lives?

By turns funny, sad, and poignant, the book may not convince everyone that faery folk exist. But Signe Pike’s quest makes for enjoyable reading. Finding definitive answers may be in her future, but that’s not the book’s point to me. The point is to find a passion for pursuing. We all need meaning in our lives and can all use a little help finding it. I recommend this book to anyone with an open mind and heart. ( )

If there is even a small part of you that still believes in faeries, a part that still claps when Tinkerbell says to clap, Signe Pike will touch that part of you.

Her first book, Faery Tale: One Woman's Search for Enchantment in a Modern World, dubbed "Eat Pray Love with Faeries" by Inciting a Riot, is a journey through grief, faeries, and the UK.

As a long time fan of faeries and faery lore I was completely entranced by this book. I want to read it again and I can't wait to explore the books she references throughout it. (I added many of them to my wish list before I began this review.) Pike helped me remember things I'd forgotten from my childhood, like groves of trees my sisters and I played in and a tiny doll I believed was a faery. She made me reconsider my love for the word Imagine.

After the death of her father and an odd experience in Mexico, Pike quits her Manhattan job (as a book editor) and goes to Europe in search of faeries, faery lore, and enchantment.

Peppered with beautiful facts, myths and lore, alongside amazing descriptions that make the reader feel like they're traveling with Pike, this book is well worth a read. And a second read. Pike threads the modern into the historic quite well, with references to Yoda and Highlander intertwined through her narrative as the explores ancient forts and sacred pools of water.

There were a few places where Pike's language could have been a little tighter, or her story pulled out a bit further. If she were in a writer's workshop with me I might have moved some of the story around, and I definitely would have edited out a few typos (though I hear that was changed with later printings) but really, it's all minor in the grand scheme of the wonderful book.

A few reviews I've read said this book was specifically aimed at a Pagan audience, but I'm going to disagree with that. Pike has written something that I think much of the world can learn from. Beneath the fantastical examination of what some may consider "supernatural" she is talking about a need to get back to nature. A universal urge to explore the spiritual and to welcome life with a childlike view of it all. Pike has written a faery tale story (with absolutely no princes on white horses, thank you very much!) for everyone.

Even if you don't believe in faeries.

What's it about? According to the author, "It's an examination of the loss of myth in modern culture" (page 9). I would say it's a personal exploration into the current belief (or lack thereof) in fairies in the modern world, as experienced by one young woman by travelling through Mexico, England, the Isle of Man, Ireland and Scotland, all the while still grieving the loss of her father about whom she has mixed emotions.

By reacquainting herself with the belief in faery, Signe Pike feels she may find a way to work through the conflicting emotions she has following the loss of her father, but before undertaking the journey to faery, Signe relinquishes her job in publishing and moves interstate, away from the city. Life-changing events indeed.

Why did I read it? Because it was offered to me.

What did I like about it? It's an amazingly easy read. It shows that Signe Pike worked in the publishing industry, because the book is very well organised, with a warm voice, unimposing language and her memories of her father are interposed nicely with the main narrative.

Signe Pike clearly did her research and was enthused by her subject; her descriptions refrain from being flowery or expansive, but the impressions given provide a good image in the mind's eye of the places visited. Thankfully, too, the book progresses from the Disney-like fairy creatures to musings on the Sith, Sidhe and other historical manifestations of the "other crowd".

What didn't I like? Despite research there were some errors. For instance, on page 185 of the U.K. paperback edition, the following appears:

"... elderflower liquor ... made from the flowers on the hawthorn trees, you know, the faery trees".

Elderflowers are from elder trees, which not unlike hawthorn is thought to reign back luck down on those who cut it down without permission, but most definitely isn't the same as hawthorn. Hawthorn does produce berries (haws) which can be made into wine though.

I didn't agree with a lot of the connections/extrapolations the author made; some I felt were more than a step too far.

Would I recommend it? Sure I would recommend it to the following: someone who really, really wants to believe in magic and magical creatures they knew as a child; someone who wants to dip their little toe in the mystical otherworld; someone going on holiday who wants something easy and light to read, but nothing too serious; someone who might be a frequent visitor to Glastonbury, the town, not the festival.

I would not recommend it to anyone that has spent time traversing the Otherworld; I just don't think they would appreciate it very much. ( )

This was an impulse purchase at the Borders closing sale, and I ended up enjoying it surprisingly much. The premise was obviously interesting enough to make me pick it up initially: the author wants to recapture a childhood sense of enchantment, and so decides to seek out places in the world where people still believe in fairies. It may seem obvious where this is going, but I was actually a bit surprised and disappointed when the author moved quickly into an exploration of "are fairies real?". Her exploration of the issue is also extremely haphazard, and basically involves travelling around at random to wherever people happen to advise and doing minimal research beforehand. And yet somehow I still quite enjoyed the book. It's a personal memoir rather than a scholarly study, and I found Signe very engaging. In addition to her travels, there's a significant focus on her attempts to come to terms with the death of her father, whose frequent fits of rage had given her a miserable childhood. Despite my skepticism about the entire premise, I found myself drawn in by the story and came away satisfied with the reading experience. ( )

A New York book editor.
The Faery Realm.

Two terms that, on the surface, have nothing in common and would seem to have conflicting world views. But not so fast....

Signe Pike writes a memoir of the journey that melds these two very different worlds. Prompted by the death of her father, Signe is led into a world of enchantment that she had been taught does not exist. Intellectualism and rationalization are slowly chipped away as she is presented with experiences that go beyond mere coincidence and brings her to a synchronicity that she cannot ignore. While this journey is at times frightening and uncomfortable, she eventually reaches a state of peace when she realizes that she is not alone and that her pain is a threshold to something greater. Believe or not as you may, the magic of her unfolding is a story not to be missed. Excellent book, wonderful writing - highly recommended and a personal favorite. ( )