Play Audiobook Sample
Some Kind of Fairy Tale: A Novel Audiobook
Play Audiobook Sample
(3.00) - 2,110 listener ratings
Quick Stats About this Audiobook
Total Audiobook Chapters:
Longest Chapter Length:
Shortest Chapter Length:
Average Chapter Length:
Audiobooks by this Author:
Publisher Description
Some Kind of Fairy Tale is the mesmerizing new novel from acclaimed author Graham Joyce.
Twenty years ago, sixteen-year-old Tara Martin disappeared from a small town in the heart of England. Now, her sudden return and the mind-bending tale of where she’s been will challenge our very perception of the truth.
For twenty years after Tara Martin disappeared, her parents and her brother, Peter, lived in denial of the grim fact that she was gone for good. Then suddenly on Christmas Day, the doorbell rings at her parents’ home, and there, dishevelled and slightly peculiar looking, Tara stands. It’s a miracle, but alarm bells are ringing for Peter. Tara’s story just does not add up. And, incredibly, she barely looks a day older than when she vanished.
Award-winning author Graham Joyce is a master of exploring new realms of understanding that exist between dreams and reality, between the known and unknown. Some Kind of Fairy Tale is a one-of-a-kind journey every bit as magical as its title implies—and as real and unsentimental as the world around us.
Download and start listening now!
"An intriguing, humorous, character-driven read. Enjoyed it very much (read it in a couple days), but the unanswered questions bothered me. I wanted to know more about the "fairy" folk, more about Hiero's actions and motivation, and a few other things that I won't mention because I don't do spoilers ;) In the end, though, I realized this is the story of Tara and her family and friends, not the story of the fairies."
— Nancy (4 out of 5 stars)
Quotes
-
“Joyce blends reality with fantasy in this modern-day fable…Though Joyce envisions an intriguing realm nestled against our own, what’s most compelling are his characters’ chaotic emotions and reconnections as they struggle to cope with what they can’t understand.”
— Publishers Weekly -
“A captivating blend of fantasy and reality that will keep readers guessing till the very end. Recommended for fans of Keith Donohue's The Stolen Child and readers who enjoy fairy tale variations, fantasy, or psychological exploration.”
— Library Journal -
“Reality and fairy tale are beautifully interwoven in this contemplative story about relationships, love, and dreams. In a unique blend of thriller and fantasy, Joyce creates a delightful page-turner that his fans and newcomers alike will find hard to put down.”
— Booklist -
“Do we share the planet with other life forms such as fairies? Veteran British fantasist Joyce lets the possibility dangle in this absorbing work…Excellently done; expertly grounded, suspensefully told.”
— Kirkus Reviews
Awards
-
A BookPage Book of the Day, July 2012
-
Selected for the July 2012 Indie Next List
-
A 2012 Library Journal Best Book
-
A 2013 World Fantasy Award Finalist for Best Novel
Some Kind of Fairy Tale Listener Reviews
-
" I don't really know what to think about this story, because I honestly couldn't tell you what it's about. There's layers behind just the plain written down story, and I have to this odd, almost apprehensive feeling that I'm missing something. I do know it's not like Don't Breathe a Word, which pretended to be about fairies until the very end when it turned out it wasn't at all. That bad experience made me a little reluctant to read this one, but luckily this book at the very least leaves the question of whether or not there was actual supernatural involvement open-ended. "
— Nikki, 2/4/2014 -
" Really enjoyed this--a compelling read that by about halfway through was very hard to put down. Found myself thinking of it often in between reading sessions. It was a quietly contemplative novel, as charming as it was unsettling. I definitely want to read something else by Graham Joyce at some point. "
— Christopher, 1/13/2014 -
" Moody, mysterious and imbued with a subtle humor, this story of a woman who turns up on her family's doorstep on Christmas Day after having gone missing for twenty years was the perfect holiday read. Tara, who disappeared when she was sixteen, appears twenty years later looking no older than the day she left. Her family and old boyfriend, now middle aged, can't believe the story she tells: that a man on a white horse took her away to a strange land for six months and while she was there, twenty years passed in their small English village. Are fairies real? Each member of Tara's family tries to come to terms with her sudden reappearance and the troubling fact of her still youthful appearance. Despite a not quite satisfactory ending, this lovely book held me in thrall with its suggestion that there is an unseen world just around the next tree trunk that would be open to us if we would only turn off all our little machines for a minute and look. "
— Jennifer, 1/10/2014 -
" I had a lot of fun reading this book! It has all of the fairy tale mythology put to modern day. Now I know for sure that a fairy realm DOES exist ;) "
— Tina, 1/8/2014 -
" Great book, but I have no idea what happened at the end. "
— Angela, 12/13/2013 -
" Another tale about fairies, this about a girl who disappears & reappears 20 years later, and the impact on those close to her. A nice read. "
— Bullcityfats, 11/8/2013 -
" Great, fun read!! Good pick whomever picked it! Thanks!! "
— Sharon, 9/6/2013 -
" Didn't like this! And I love magic! "
— Molly, 8/25/2013 -
" Interesting story about a girl who reappears after being missing for twenty years and her story of where she was. "
— Mia, 5/19/2013 -
" Could have benefited from some more editing to remove a few details that felt a bit awkward or tone deaf, but, in general, the story kept me hooked. "
— Alicia, 3/9/2013 -
" Oooo-er! Fantastic! I love Graham Joyce! "
— Jenn, 2/10/2013 -
" It was an interesting story, but easy to put down and walk away from. "
— Jennifer, 1/18/2013 -
" The kind of book where I couldn't stop thinking about it long after I finished. "
— Angie, 8/1/2012
About Graham Joyce
Graham Joyce (1954–2014), a winner of the O. Henry Award, the British Fantasy Award, and the World Fantasy Award, was the author of many notable books, including How to Make Friends with Demons, Smoking Poppy, Indigo (a New York Times Notable Book of 2000), The Tooth Fairy (a Publishers Weekly Best Book of 1998), and Requiem, among others.
About John Lee
John Lee is the winner of numerous Earphones Awards and the prestigious Audie Award for Best Narration. He has twice won acclaim as AudioFile’s Best Voice in Fiction & Classics. He also narrates video games, does voice-over work, and writes plays. He is an accomplished stage actor and has written and coproduced the feature films Breathing Hard and Forfeit. He played Alydon in the 1963–64 Doctor Who serial The Daleks.