The Good Fairies of New York

A funny and entertaining, yet still very anarchic novel that it is hard not to like. I would never naturally have selected The Good Fairies of New York to read, but it was kindly gifted, and it is always rewarding to encounter new authors. Fantasy (of the sort that might involve fairies, or goblins, demons, witches, etc.) has never been my sort of thing, but Millar handles his material well. As Neil Gaiman notes in his introduction, it is almost as if Millar had heard this story (of the novel) from someone else and is now transcribing it for the benefit of a broader audience. The action is disarmingly plausible—you just need to believe a little. Read The Good Fairies of New York as another homage to New York—seen through different eyes here. The Scottish banter and dialect (the two fairy heroines hail from the country) was wonderfully on point; and any novel that brings in A Midsummer Night's Dream—with its inevitable happy ending and tying up of loose ends—deserves recommendation.

By Martin Millar