Silver in the Wood is a woodsy folktale that harkens to the old gods and mischievous fae.

As solid and dense as the wood itself, Silver in the Wood wraps you into the story of Tobias, who is as part of the wood as the dirt and leaves and dryads. Over 400 years old, he barely remembers his earlier life, but he takes care of the wood in his own way, and keeps the townspeople nearby as safe as he can against angry dryads and wicked fae.

There is a dreamy, even mysterious, quality to the storytelling. A good book to curl up to with tea and a fire, and maybe your own Pearl (cat) to scratch behind the ears. It is a woodsy folktale, which calls up scents of wet leaves and autumn berries as you’re reading.

I really enjoyed the narration – which felt as solid and old as the old oak, and made me feel drawn into an old legend that feels more like truth that lore.

I loved how things came full circle in the story, in its own way, which harkens to the seasons and the wood life cycle that guided time in the book.

What I absolutely loved was how the wood itself had personalities and characters – the trees had their own dryads, which could call up vines and thorns for protection and weapons. They had feelings, and they had histories and relationships with each other. In other words, they were human, and made the story feel so much sharper for it. I feel in love with Bramble, that feisty and protective dryad, felt for the old oak, and rooted for both Tobias and Silver.

If you like lyrical, atmospheric folktales, Silver in the Wood is a good book (more like novella) to pick up.

Favorite quotes from Silver in the Wood:

“Go,” she managed. “Grow.”

“…he felt himself for a moment as the stump of a rotten old tree, putting up thin green shoots at strange new angles.”

“They were the things of this world and of this time, human right through. Tobias started to find he liked them.” 

“The Green Man walks the wood,” he tried explaining. “But the wood remembers.”

 “Tobias had thought and thought about it, for four hundred years, until he’d reached the conclusion that Fabian must have loved him, after all, in his own way. That was the wors“They were the things of this world and of this time, human right through. Tobias started to find he liked them.”