Under the Green Hill (review)

Sent to the English countryside to stay with their great-aunt and -uncle, siblings Rowan, Meg, Silly (Priscilla), and James soon discover that the townsfolk's seemingly superstitious traditions surrounding the appeasement of fairies are actually wise practice. At the children's first encounter with the Good Folk, Rowan, the oldest, agrees to be the human champion for the Seelie queen at the fast-approaching Midsummer War between the beautiful Seelie and the much more threatening Host. Practical, motherly, rule-bound Meg, whose hurt at being called a wet blanket and determination to keep those she loves safe will resonate strongly with readers, discovers her own strength and bravery as she fights to save Rowan from near-certain death and the almost-as-horrible fate of becoming a killer. Sullivan successfully pairs the grotesque, unearthly overtones of fairy lore—and its shivery side of danger, coercion, illusion, and sacrifice—with the classic siblings-on-holiday tropes of adventure, discovery, and growth. The rural, tradition-steeped setting disallows the presence of modern technology and sensibilities without placing the book in the past, giving it a timeless feel; the challenging vocabulary and Anglophilic prose affectations further evoke an old-fashioned fantasy landscape, but the ominous atmosphere and morally ambiguous fairies evince a modern appeal as well. Sullivan has a sure-handed storyteller's voice, interjecting tidbits of foreshadowing and wisdom, warning or confiding in turn, filling the narrative with gentle humor and conspiratorial commentary. Magic, wonder, and danger pervade this tightly plotted, perfectly age-pitched fantasy debut.