[Review] Mark Stay: 'The Crow Folk'

While World War II rages in Europe, another sort of war is erupting in and around Woodville, a quiet village in rural Kent.

Faye Bright always felt a little bit different. And now she’s found out why. She’s just stumbled across her late mother’s diary, which includes not only an interesting recipe for jam roly-poly, but also spells, incantations, runes, and recitations. Which means it's witch’s notebook.

And Faye seems to have inherited her mother’s abilities.

Just in time, too, because the Crow Folk are coming. Led by the charismatic Pumpkinhead, their strange magic threatens Faye and the villagers. Armed with little more than her mum’s words, her trusty bicycle, the grudging help of two bickering old ladies, and some aggressive church bellringing, Faye will find herself on the front lines of a war nobody expected.

Right, by now the reader will have understood that this is a book that is clearly in the realm of fantasy. What did I make of it?

Yes, the story is inventive and creative, but the way the story is written is not. I got the distinct impression that Mark Stay somehow has lost the love of writing, and that he sees it as doing a 9 to 5 job. A job that didn't even involve doing proper research.

Already in the first chapter, the main character, Faye, observes that a regular in the pub of her father, leaving the toilet without flushing or washing his hands (page 25). The problem is that during World War II, running water in England was a vital, but mostly limited resource. While some areas, like larger cities, had access to mains water, rural areas often relied on wells, handpumps, or water from communal sources. And that's one of the problems: you never get the sense of time and place. Faye is a modern girl in an historic setting.

The conclusion is that 'The Crow Folk' is a bit of a disappointment.