The Cottingley Secret

Everyone in book club finished this months book!

Many of the book club members read this book and found it more enjoyable than they expected, while others felt it really wasn't their cup of tea at all. We loved the historical elements but wanted more from it overall.

Sorry this is short, i didn't make any notes during this meeting for some reason.

Overall we gave this book 6 out of 10.

Generally the group enjoyed reading the book. We thought the part of the story set in the past, how the girls faked the photos was good but non of us really liked the modern story which felt too contrived ( how could you not realize the shop next door was having a big makeover? )

Thank you to the reading Agency and Harper Collins for providing Macclesfield Library Reading Group with ten copies of The Cottingley Secret by Hazel Gaynor. Most of our group was familiar with the basic outline of the real life Cottingley Fairy story and we all were drawn in by the story and the way the researched facts blurred into the fiction of Olivia’s life. This gentle and magical story is an uplifting tale told through two narratives, Olivia in present day and Frances in 1917. The fleshing out of Frances Griffith’s wartime childhood and the story of how the world wanted to believe in fairies was intriguing. However the overly poetic writing style and overuse of descriptive similes to try to set the tone did hinder some of our enjoyment of the book.
“It is a light, easy read with some good characters.”
“A light novel, a little fanciful not something I would normally read, I had some knowledge of the Cottingley Fairies and found it interesting”
“I am in two minds about this book. I enjoyed the parts about the Cottingley Fairies but thought the modern story was twee and formulaic.”
“I did not enjoy it I did not find it compelling at all. The modern day component was shallow and tedious”