‘Easily my favourite read of this year . . . an unputdownable, bittersweet tale’
Allison Saft, New York Times bestselling author of A Far Wilder Magic
All they needed to break the world was a door, and someone to open it.
Camford, 1920. Gilded and glittering, England’s secret magical academy is no place for Clover, a commoner with neither connections nor magical blood. She tells herself she has fought her way there only to find a cure for her brother Matthew, one of the few survivors of a faerie attack on the battlefields of WWI which left the doors to faerie country sealed, the study of its magic banned, and its victims cursed.
But when Clover catches the eye of golden boy Alden Lennox-Fontaine and his friends, doors that were previously closed to her are flung wide open, and she soon finds herself enmeshed in the seductive world of the country’s magical aristocrats. The summer she spends in Alden’s orbit leaves a fateful mark: months of joyous friendship and mutual study come crashing down when experiments go awry, and old secrets are unearthed.
Years later, when the faerie seals break, Clover knows it’s because of what they did. And she knows that she must seek the help of people she once called friends-and now doesn’t quite know what to call-if there’s any hope of saving the world as they know it.
‘By turns wondrous, haunting and mysterious . . . historical fantasy at its finest” Olivia Atwater, author of Half a Soul
Allison Saft, New York Times bestselling author of A Far Wilder Magic
All they needed to break the world was a door, and someone to open it.
Camford, 1920. Gilded and glittering, England’s secret magical academy is no place for Clover, a commoner with neither connections nor magical blood. She tells herself she has fought her way there only to find a cure for her brother Matthew, one of the few survivors of a faerie attack on the battlefields of WWI which left the doors to faerie country sealed, the study of its magic banned, and its victims cursed.
But when Clover catches the eye of golden boy Alden Lennox-Fontaine and his friends, doors that were previously closed to her are flung wide open, and she soon finds herself enmeshed in the seductive world of the country’s magical aristocrats. The summer she spends in Alden’s orbit leaves a fateful mark: months of joyous friendship and mutual study come crashing down when experiments go awry, and old secrets are unearthed.
Years later, when the faerie seals break, Clover knows it’s because of what they did. And she knows that she must seek the help of people she once called friends-and now doesn’t quite know what to call-if there’s any hope of saving the world as they know it.
‘By turns wondrous, haunting and mysterious . . . historical fantasy at its finest” Olivia Atwater, author of Half a Soul
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Reviews
[An] intelligent, vivid novel . . . Highly recommended
The Scholar and the Last Faerie Door is thoughtfully written and thoroughly enthralling. H.G. Parry illuminates the pleasures and perils of knowledge - and friendship - in a voice that is exquisite and empathetic to the very end
Part historical fantasy, part campus novel and entirely magical, The Scholar and the Last Faerie Door is easily my favourite read of this year. Parry has crafted an unputdownable, bittersweet tale about thorny love, belonging, and what it means to truly fix a broken world
By turns wondrous, haunting and mysterious, The Scholar and the Last Faerie Door asks big questions and delivers all the right answers. This book is historical fantasy at its finest
Magical, creepy, and comforting all at the same time - The Scholar and the Last Faerie Door is an instant classic. You'll remember all your favourite books and be reading late into the night to find out more. H.G. Parry has something truly special here
The Scholar and the Last Faerie Door immerses readers in a richly imagined world of magical spells and scholarly intrigue. As always, H.G. Parry blends fantasy, history, thought-provoking ideas and brilliantly enjoyable prose
Bewitching! An irresistible blend of history, fairy lore and magic set in England during the aftermath of the Great War, with hints of magic glimmering with every turn of the page. Power and privilege, love and loyalty, ambition and friendship - I was completely absorbed
H.G. Parry's The Scholar and the Last Faerie Door is a brilliant story of magic and scholarship and ambition. Of sacrifices made to keep loved ones safe, and a secret world that is wilder and stranger and more complicated than even those living in it know. This is a marvellous, thought-provoking, captivating novel and I loved it completely
The Scholar and the Last Faerie Door is a rare treat of a novel. H. G. Parry breathes magic and history to life - weaving the eerie lore of faerie through the glittering Jazz Age of the 1920s. I devoured this book with wide eyes and a racing heart, and I have no doubt that others will do the same
A richly imagined blend of dark academia, fae fantasy and evocative historical fiction, H. G. Parry's latest novel is the slow building kind you can truly lose yourself in