Some Kind of Fairy Tale

I tend to shy away from stories described as Fantasy.  It's just not my cup of tea, though I have tried a few times.  But I thoroughly enjoyed Graham Joyce's 2011 release, The Silent Land.  That story was about a couple who survive an avalanche during a ski trip, only to find that they are the only people remaining at the ski lodge.  It combined some fantasy elements with a believable and well delivered plot.  So when I finally got the opportunity to read Joyce's latest novel, Some Kind of Fairy Tale, I jumped on the chance.

Tara Martin, a typical small town teen, disappears in the woods near her parent's home.  The intense search yields nothing and the authorities immediately target her boyfriend due to the fact that the two of them had some recent arguments.  Her parents and brother, Peter, eventually move on when it becomes clear she will never return.

Fast forward twenty years.  Tara arrives at her parents doorstep on Christmas and an emotional reunion begins  But there are plenty of questions to be asked.  Where has she been for twenty years?  Why does Tara think only six months have passed?  Why does she still look so young?  Tara's explanation for her disappearance is unbelievable, but it appears that she is not making it up.  She fully believes she has been living in a parallel world with a man she met in the woods that day twenty years ago.

This was a very enjoyable read from beginning to end.  The story is alternately told in the present and the past.  We see vignettes of how everyone dealt with Tara's disappearance and subsequent reappearance.  While there are fantasy elements throughout, the story focuses on the relationship between Tara and her family then and now.