Silver in the Wood & Drowned Country

The Greenhollow Duology

By: Emily Tesh

Narrated by: Matthew Lloyd Davies

Length: 5 hrs and 51 mins

Publisher's summary

Silver in the Wood

There is a wild man who lives in the deep quiet of Greenhollow, and he listens to the wood. Tobias, tethered to the forest, does not dwell on his past life, but he lives a perfectly unremarkable existence with his cottage, his cat, and his dryads.

When Greenhollow Hall acquires a handsome, intensely curious new owner in Henry Silver, everything changes. Old secrets better left buried are dug up, and Tobias is forced to reckon with his troubled past - both the green magic of the woods and the dark things that rest in its heart.

Drowned Country

Even the wild man of Greenhollow can't ignore a summons from his mother when that mother is the indomitable Adela Silver, practical folklorist. Henry Silver does not relish what he'll find in the grimy seaside town of Rothport, where once the ancient wood extended before it was drowned beneath the sea - a missing girl, a monster on the loose, or, worst of all, Tobias Finch, who loves him.

©2020 Emily Tesh (P)2020 Tantor

Cozy and Mysterious

If you're a fan of the anime Mushi-Shi you will instantly love this story. Featuring charming characters that you root for, there is an interesting balance of the foreboding power of the mystical world overlayed with everyday life that is a fresh breath of air amidst so many stories that are focused on overly grand themes.

While my only complaint was that the stories were so short, I must admit that the author was very good about not taking any more time than she needed to and perhaps adding more would have been superfluous.

Such a gentle and beautiful story

At first, I thought the story would be ended with a sad note, but then the author turned it around with such gentleness and thoughtfulness, I simply adored it.

Truly Delightful - Run, Don't Walk

Before I discuss the story, and boy howdy do I want to discuss the story, I want to talk about the performance. I've listened to this once through, and though I find Davies's performance of the more preternatural characters a little grating, a little bit of an obstacle to comprehension, I do appreciate what this take on those characters adds to the feel of the story. Reading, say, Bramble as a creaky, completely inhuman sort of woman I think takes away from her as a character, the mostly friendly dryad girl. **But more than I feel it takes away** from the character, the performance adds to the overall feel of the world, that the supernatural in this setting is *entirely other* and Bramble *isn't* just a 20-something at a ren fair getting too into character. I think on repeated listen-throughs, these choices will grow on me and won't seem as jarring or grating.

I also felt his performance of Fabian was passable, but maybe not sensual and... normal enough. Fabian's allure and danger, to me, felt like he was other in a way that you could easily miss and look past. Davies's performance leans too far in the inhuman, unnatural direction for him to have that effect. On me, at least.

That all being said, his performance as the more human characters felt spot-on every time. Henry, Tobias, Maude, perfect. No notes, Loved them. His performance as Henry's mother was in a league of its own, hands down my favorite character in a duology full of strong characters. I love an aged girlboss, and her level of competence enhanced the world rather than broke my immersion.

Now, a fairly spoiler-free review of the story and writing. No synopsis here. A nitpick that I would recommend reading after finishing "Silver in the Wood" will be marked separate at the bottom.

I would say the first book was stronger than the second, but it's like with Henry's mother; it is just a champion among champions. The right choice was made packaging them together. They felt less like two books and more like two halves of a single story—Tesh threaded the needle with this series, it never felt disjointed despite rampant mucking about with time and the perception of it. The prose was lush and magical throughout the text. In many ways, I am reminded of "Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries", though this came out years before Fawcett's book. I dare say that Fawcett probably read this series and was in part inspired to write her own masterpiece by it.

The romance is understated and not, I would say, the main focus of the text. It is a driving force in the leading characters' motivations, so to me, it never felt lost. Make no mistake, this is not like most contemporary romance books. Romance readers hoping for head-over-heels swooning and make-out scenes, widen your horizons or turn back now. This series is not about that. It is about love, of course, about identity and personhood, about who we become after trauma and abuse, and the romance is used to enhance all other themes of the book. No matter how we change, no matter how we are changed, we are ourselves because of who we love and who loves us. (Though I will say, not just romantic love either, that's not the point Tesh was making.)

The worldbuilding was delicious, sumptuous even. I want more stories set in this world. (Not really with Tobias and Henry, though, their story feels well and truly finished. I feel it would take away the meaning for their story to be dragged out.) Reminiscent and reverent of the stories and cultures it drew from, but Tesh was clearly not afraid to be creative. The confidence it was written with is apparent, the world takes itself perfectly seriously without feeling inaccessible or contrived.

10/10 story, 9/10 worldbuilding, 9/10 performance, listen to this book. You'll feel good after, I promise. Bravo, Ms. Tesh, Bravo.


***This is the spoiler-y nitpicky bit that I only recommend reading AFTER finishing "Silver in the Wood".***

The story completely changes tone with the arrival of Mrs. Silver. It's truly incredible. It's foreshadowed and all that, so it wasn't bad by any stretch, but it did leave me with some questions about the world and its approach to the magical. There was some beating around the bush at the beginning, with Henry saying that all these stories and folklore were superstition and basically hogwash. He said this more-or-less knowing that he had found the Wild Man of Greenhollow, that his mother was a practical folklorist, a monster hunter. Now, he was being coy. Tobias was being coy. All that's well and good, I get that. They both wanted to feel normal and approach each other as themselves.

My question is, and I don't know exactly how to phrase this, what exactly do people know about magic?

Mrs. Silver gathers from her son's notes exactly what Tobias's deal is and comes right out and says it. She's a scholar of these sorts of things. There's a whole section of academia dedicated to this sort of thing. People publish papers in a journal called "Folklore". She gets letters asking her to come deal with uppity monsters. Does the world know about magic and monsters or not? Do people think there's a whole field of academics who have completely lost their minds, believe in fairytales, and are chasing after cryptids?

Is this a "secret magical world" sort of story, and Tobias was protecting the veil of secrecy as well as people's lives at the beginning, or is it magical realism and people live alongside the magical, and Tobias could probably have explained himself to the villagers? Maybe I missed something and I need to go back and listen again, but for now, this bit of worldbuilding confuses me.

Simply Beautiful

Beautiful, elegant, delightful, and so very easy to listen to. To be enraptured in the the forest in her words is a delight. This work makes me happy to put it quite simply

Old Lore Made Fresh, Great Characters

I am not queer, and so many of the reviews I’ve read for the works of this author begin by discussing sexuality, identity, and politics. None of these come to my mind in the modern sense when I read this particular book and other books by this author. I experience, wonderful writing, subtle and deep character development of appealing people, lived in worlds in which I am curious, and new legends or the retelling of old Lore that is engrossing and charming, subtle and often provocative in a way that builds up the human spirit. This particular audiobook, the reader is truly outstanding.

what a lovely storie

A joyful read I love the characters maybe I will give another one of the author books a read.

Only wish it was hours longer

Sweet. Well written. Great characters. Wonderful world building. Thoroughly enjoyed this fairy tale.
Please write more!!

Magical, charming green man story

Green man/fairy story done right with complex plot and tantalizing world building along with a smut-free love story

Charming "Feel-Good" Fairytales for Adults

A charming duology of fairytale-esque Dryads, Fae, and Vampires, mixed with a bit of romance.

THE GOOD

Ambiance: This book felt - for lack of a better term - quiet. The character of Tobias is a quiet, deep thinking man, well suited to the moody & mysterious enchanted woods he is the caretaker of. In contrast, the bright and charming Silver livens the book up to keep it from being a little too moody.

Just the right length: This duology doesn't waste any words, and is the better for it. A short read (or in my case, listen, as I read the audiobooks) that does what it intended to do without lingering longer than needed.

Narrator: Matthew Lloyd Davies brought a wonderful, quiet feel to these books that does a great job of filling out the ambiance.

THE NOT-SO-GOOD

Feel Good Reading: While I did enjoy both stories, the first story of the duology was the stronger of the two by a bit. I did enjoy the ending of the second book though, and feel this would qualify as "feel good" reading.

THE VERDICT

A short, sweet set of stories that will leave you feeling uplifted.

Excellent

I got this because A. it was recommended by friends, and more importantly, B. it is narrated by Matthew Lloyd Davies, a gifted vocal gymnast with a velvety, expressive baritone.

LGBTQI fiction has come a long way since I read Beebo Brinker et alia in the 1980s. This passes the A. C. Campbell test with flying rainbow colors: take the same-sex orientation as read, and create a story that's inherently good.

This is a great pair of stories: mythopoeically dense, well-structured, lovely twists, wonderful characters, gloriously effortless writing, over a moving and internally solid reality. Only complaint is, they're too short and too few, because I really want to see more of these people. And hear more from Mr. Davies.