The author used each chapter for each character to explain their side of the story, so sometimes it became confusing as to what was going on with the jumping around of view points.

Each character has their own view point of what transpired in the manor while they stayed there. The story is set in the early 70's of a rock/folk band that decides to spend time in a old manor called Wylding Hall which is rumored to be haunted. This was my first book by Elizabeth Hand and she wrote a haunting ghost story that just sweeps you away. The fairy elements are also cleverly handled and although never explicitly mentioned there is enough in the folkloric wren elements and the fey, feather-footed girl to make it clear that Windhollow Faire are encountering the little folk. The band and its hippy-dippy members feel correct and Hand drops in names and places from the late ‘60s / early ‘70s folk scene that gives their story a real authenticity. The golden, drug-infused meanderings of the band work brilliantly with the slowly revealing fairy tale at the centre of the narrative. The story is mysterious and atmospheric with Hand’s descriptions giving the whole thing a magical, uncanny feeling. The story is cleverly crafted in documentary style with multiple unreliable narrators, giving differing viewpoints and justification of events. Elizabeth Hand weaves a magical tale that splendidly merges a compelling tale of a young band with the mythology of wren and fairy.

Years later the surviving band members and those involved in the Wylding Hall recordings come together to tell their own version of what happened at the mysterious mansion. The album they make becomes a classic but it is bathed in tragedy as the band’s mercurial singer disappears during the sessions. Windhollow Faire are an up-and-coming acid folk band who have been sent to Wylding Hall, an ancient English country mansion, by their manager, to create their first album.

Wylding Hall by Elizabeth Hand