The Fairy Bargains of Prospect Hill

January 1, 2023

In Miller's (Rule) latest, the worldbuilding and historical folklore is richly detailed, while the ties of fairy and family create an intriguing plot. Sisters Alaine and Delphine know their family's history on Prospect Hill--one told through the generations as having come to them through the power of the Fae. Even as the land has changed, with farms slowly shrinking and rail lines and mills taking priority, their family farm and orchards survive and thrive, and if bits of ribbon and glass offerings disappear the next day, who is to say why? When Delphine's new husband is not the man she expected him to be, Alaine is sure that she can bargain, yet small prizes only yield small gains. A major bargain is the only thing that will create the change the sisters need, but the price is one that neither had expected to pay. VERDICT A bold story of sisterhood, societal expectations, and the lengths women may be willing to travel for love and freedom. Fans of Alix E. Harrow's The Once and Future Witches will find this fierce and folkloric tale a terrific read.--Kristi Chadwick

Copyright 2023 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

January 30, 2023
Miller (the Unraveled Kingdom series) takes readers to the turn-of-the-20th-century Midwest for this flawed but atmospheric standalone historical fantasy. Sisters Alaine and Delphine have been raised on their grandfather’s tale of how a fairy encounter gained him the family farm, and on their grandmother’s lore of how to make small, safe, everyday bargains with unseen fae. Alaine is devoted to the farm, while Delphine marries a man from the city. Both paths have their bumps, and as the sisters’ struggles slowly build, so too does their willingness to break their grandmother’s rules and make increasingly dangerous deals with the fae. There’s a touch of Faust to the plot, and a bit of Frozen, too. The storytelling has a YA vibe in its simplified conflicts and improbabilities: if the farm is threatened by foreclosure, for instance, where is cash coming from for silk dresses and watercolor paints? In a purely historical novel, the glossed-over detail and lack of grit would be fatal, but the fairies are the point here, and Miller conjures them fully at last alongside a thoughtful meditation on sisterhood and priorities. It’s not revelatory, but it has its charms. Agent: Jessica Sinsheimer, Context Literacy Agency.

February 15, 2023
Two sisters caught up in their bargains with the Fae find themselves in over their heads in this tale of family tradition and upward mobility. Lilabeth Canner taught her daughter and granddaughters to safely bargain with the Fae--for luck, good weather, and empty wombs. Years after her husband traded a handkerchief to a Fae girl for a plot of land on Prospect Hill, the Canners' oldest granddaughter, Alaine, presides over the family's failing farm. Alaine harbors a deep resentment of her younger sister, Delphine, whose impending marriage to Pierce Grafton will sweep her away to the big city and leave Alaine to worry about the farm alone. For her part, Del is jealous of her big sister; Alaine has a place in the world: at the farm, where Del has never felt as if she belongs. Her dreams of joining the socialite class flag as she struggles to adapt to the posh Grafton lifestyle, however. Both women soon find themselves making risky, untested bargains with the Fae to improve their circumstances--a decision that has dire, if predictable, consequences. Awkward dialogue plagues the opening chapters as Miller shoehorns information into casual conversations between family members. Poor pacing turns the novel's first half into a slog, and readers well versed in Fae literature may bristle at how long it takes the sisters' proverbial chickens to come home to roost. Del's society faux pas and Alaine's financial woes receive enough attention in the first half to almost completely drown out the early fairy bargains--the stakes of which are so low that it becomes easy to forget this is a fantasy novel. Yet when a bargain finally goes awry, the sisters' personal problems cease to matter at all. To its credit, the last third of this fairy story proves enjoyable. Although Miller nicely ties up the majority of loose ends in the denouement, many readers may not stick around to find out what happens on Prospect Hill. A fantasy offering that takes too long to raise its narrative stakes.

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Starred review from February 15, 2023
Alaine Fairborn works hard to keep the family's orchard in Prospect Hill thriving. Occasionally, she and her sister Delphine leave a fairy bargain for small favors like rain or a good harvest. They are continuing the tradition started when their grandfather met a member of the fae in the forest and, in return for a kerchief, was given 50 acres on Prospect Hill. After Delphine marries a rich, influential man and moves away, she struggles to fit in with his family and the society ladies. Alaine struggles to keep the bank from foreclosing on the orchard. She begins to experiment with bigger bargains. When Delphine is desperate and needs Alaine's help, Alaine makes a bargain that has devastating consequences. It then becomes a race for these two sisters to recover what they unwittingly bargained away before they lose it for good. Miller seamlessly blends historical fiction and fantasy to create this enchanting tale of two sisters. The book is awash in period details as well as a vivid fantasy world, but Miller never loses sight of the sisters' relationship that sits at the heart of the story. Readers will be charmed by this tale of sisterhood, female strength, and the fae.

COPYRIGHT(2023) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.