The Scholar and the Last Faerie Door - by H G Parry (Paperback)

About the Book

"All they needed to break the world was a door, and someone to open it. 1921. Years after a botched spell lets loose a faerie into our world, killing hundreds, the study of faerie magic is banned. But for those who survived, their wounds cannot be fixed by bandages and bedrest. A magical curse requires a magical solution. Clover is determined to find a way to save her brother, Matthew-one of the few survivors of the faerie attack. At Camford, England's premier magical academy, she's nobody, just a scholarship witch with no lineage and no connections. But when she catches the eye of golden boy Alden Lennox-Fontaine and his friends, doors that had been previously closed to her are flung open, and she finds herself enmeshed in the glittering and seductive world of the country's magical aristocrats. The summer she spends in Alden's orbit leaves a fateful mark: months of joyous friendship and mutual study come crashing down when experiments go awry, and old secrets are unearthed. Years later, when the faerie seals break again, Clover knows it's because of what they did. And she knows that she must seek the help of people she once called friends-and now doesn't quite know what to call-if there's any hope of saving the world as they know it"--

Book Synopsis

From the author of The Magician's Daughter comes The Scholar and the Last Faerie Door, a mythic, magical tale full of secret scholarship, faerie curses, and the deadliest spells of all--the ones that friends cast on each other.

All they needed to break the world was a door, and someone to open it.

Camford, 1920. Gilded and glittering, England's secret magical academy is no place for Clover, a commoner with neither connections nor magical blood. She's there only to find a cure for her brother Matthew, one of the few survivors of a deadly faerie attack on the battlefields of WWI.

When Clover catches the eye of golden boy Alden Lennox-Fontaine and his friends, doors that were previously closed to her are flung wide open, and she soon finds herself enmeshed in the seductive world of the country's magical aristocrats. But the summer she spends in Alden's orbit leaves a fateful mark: months of joyous friendship and mutual study come crashing down when experiments go awry, and old secrets are unearthed. The consequences will only be truly understood many years later, when it's too late...

"Part historical fantasy, part campus novel, and entirely magical. An unputdownable, bittersweet tale." --Allison Saft

"By turns wondrous, haunting, and mysterious. Historical fantasy at its finest." --Olivia Atwater

"A brilliant story of magic and scholarship and ambition. A marvelous, thought-provoking, captivating novel." --Kat Howard

Review Quotes

"Like the best fantasy novels, The Scholar and the Last Faerie Door serves as a mirror to our own world and the problems within it: the broken world left after a devastating pandemic and how hard it is to make systemic changes in an inherently corrupt system. This intelligent, vivid novel belongs in all library fantasy collections. Highly recommended."--Booklist

"What an epic and thrilling novel! Parry does an outstanding job of blending the experiences of World War I veterans into the fantasy plot ... while also creating an academic setting that will be both familiar and unique. I loved The Scholar and the Last Faerie Door; it was one of the best pieces of literature I have read in far too long."
--Locus

"A dazzling escape for lovers of magical universities and fantastical adventures." --BookPage

"Bewitching! An irresistible blend of history, fairy lore and magic set in England during the aftermath of the Great War, with hints of magic glimmering with every turn of the page. Power and privilege, love and loyalty, ambition and friendship--I was completely absorbed."--Kell Woods, author of After the Forest

"The Scholar and the Last Faerie Door immerses readers in a richly imagined world of magical spells and scholarly intrigue. As always, H.G. Parry blends fantasy, history, thought-provoking ideas, and brilliantly enjoyable prose."--Rowenna Miller, author of The Fairy Bargains of Prospect Hill

"Part historical fantasy, part campus novel, and entirely magical, The Scholar and the Last Faerie Door is easily my favorite read of this year. Parry has crafted an unputdownable, bittersweet tale about thorny love, belonging, and what it means to truly fix a broken world." --Allison Saft, New York Times bestselling author of A Far Wilder Magic

"The Scholar and the Last Faerie Door is thoughtfully written and thoroughly enthralling. H.G. Parry illuminates the pleasures and perils of knowledge--and friendship--in a voice that is exquisite and empathetic to the very end." --Sylvie Cathrall, author of A Letter to the Luminous Deep

"Magical, creepy, and comforting all at the same time--The Scholar and the Last Faerie Door is an instant classic. You'll remember all your favorite books and be reading late into the night to find out more. H.G. Parry has something truly special here." --Kritika H. Rao, author of The Surviving Sky

"A brilliant story of magic and scholarship and ambition. Of sacrifices made to keep loved ones safe, and a secret world that is wilder and stranger and more complicated than even those living in it know. This is a marvelous, thought-provoking, captivating novel, and I loved it completely." --Kat Howard, Alex Award-winning author of An Unkindness of Magicians

"Weaving magic and history together, Parry explores what it means to come of age, to belong and not belong, and to strive to save someone you love. The characters in this book captivated me and the writing felt as smooth as a rain-polished stone. The Scholar and the Last Faerie Door is a spellbinding novel."--Elyse John, author of Orphia and Eurydicius

"The Scholar and the Last Faerie Door is a rare treat of a novel. H. G. Parry breathes magic and history to life--weaving the eerie lore of faerie through the glittering Jazz Age of the 1920s. I devoured this book with wide eyes and a racing heart, and I have no doubt that others will do the same."--Ryan Graudin, author of The Enchanted Lies of Celeste Artois

"By turns wondrous, haunting, and mysterious, The Scholar and the Last Faerie Door asks big questions and delivers all the right answers. This book is historical fantasy at its finest."--Olivia Atwater, author of Half a Soul

About the Author

H.G. Parry lives in a book-infested flat on the Kapiti Coast in New Zealand, which she shares with her sister, a cat, three guinea pigs, and two over-active rabbits. She holds a Ph.D. in English Literature from Victoria University of Wellington and has taught English, film, and media studies.