The Cottingley Secret by Hazel Gaynor

From Goodreads:
1917… It was inexplicable, impossible, but it had to be true—didn’t it? When two young cousins, Frances Griffiths and Elsie Wright from Cottingley, England, claim to have photographed fairies at the bottom of the garden, their parents are astonished. But when one of the great novelists of the time, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, becomes convinced of the photographs’ authenticity, the girls become a national sensation, their discovery offering hope to those longing for something to believe in amid a world ravaged by war. Frances and Elsie will hide their secret for many decades. But Frances longs for the truth to be told.

One hundred years later… When Olivia Kavanagh finds an old manuscript in her late grandfather’s bookshop she becomes fascinated by the story it tells of two young girls who mystified the world. But it is the discovery of an old photograph that leads her to realize how the fairy girls’ lives intertwine with hers, connecting past to present, and blurring her understanding of what is real and what is imagined. As she begins to understand why a nation once believed in fairies, can Olivia find a way to believe in herself? 

This story was exactly what I needed following a lot of dreary, thrilling, or less-than-satisfactory books. The cover and summary of The Cottingley Secret grabbed my attention, the prose, story, and characters kept it. This is my first Hazel Gaynor novel, but it certainly will not be my last, as I enjoyed every page of this charming, delightful novel. 

Hazel Gaynor has a talent with words. She is a master wordsmith, with lyrical prose that is magical and charming. In The Cottingley Secret, she takes a narrative device as old as time (dual narratives) and makes it refreshing and engaging on both sides. Very few novels that engage with dual narratives are able to hold my attention with both narratives. I enjoyed both the 1917 narrative and the 2017 narrative equally. Hazel Gaynor's writing style is light and charming, which works well for this novel. She is able to pull you in with her writing and stylistic choices, and keep you with her well-developed, overlapping characters. 

Both narratives feature great characters who are well developed and relatable. While I did relate a bit more with the characters from the 2017 sections, both narratives featured organic characters with well-defined motives, good development, and had a lot of depth. The characters were clear-cut and layered. It's great that both narratives' characters were so well-defined, as the cousins actually existed! The 1917 narrative is based on actual events that happened. Olivia on the other hand, so far as I know, is fictional. I love how Gaynor was able to weave a story together around a historical event with such ease and seamlessness. It is a testament to her writing and to the character development. 

I really truly enjoyed this novel. It didn't take very long to read, maybe an afternoon or so. The prose was lyrical and flowed naturally. The dual timelines felt organic, and there was no other way to tell a story quite like this. The writing, historical accuracy and the character development were all layered and well-defined. The Cottingley Secret is a magical novel filled with charm. I'm going to give it a 5/5 - it is a unique and charming story.