The Scholar and the Last Faerie Door, by H.G. Parry
14 Jan 2025The Book
Synopsis:
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 tells herself she has fought her way there only to find a cure for her brother Matthew, one of the few survivors of a faerie attack on the battlefields of WWI which left the doors to faerie country sealed, the study of its magic banned, and its victims cursed.
But 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. 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, 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.
My Review
The Scholar and the Last Faerie Door is a dark academia novel written by H.G. Parry and published by Orbit Books. A great blend between historical fantasy and dark academia that puts the reader in a world of scholar dreams, forbidden faerie magic, camaraderie, and closing and opening paths, all through the eyes of Clover Hill.
The faerie doors were closed and the faerie magic is forbidden to practice; during the battle of Amiens, Clover's brother, Matthew, was cursed by dark magic, and returned to house broken. Clover knows she must find a cure, and Camford, a secret magic academy, might have those answers she needs; however, for a person with common origins, getting accepted into such a world is step-up. She will fight until the end to find a place in Camford and will eventually cross paths with Alden Lennox-Fontaine and his friends, starting a friendship that will unearth many secrets about the fae, and will bring consequences in the future.
Parry has created a marvelous and relatable character in the figure of Clover: not only we have a girl that is fighting to find a cure for her brother, but who also struggles to find a position in a world that is totally new for her; only through her hard work, she manages to get accepted into the magical society. A strong friendship bond is developed between her and those that she meets in Camford, even when the things take a bad turn.
Lennox-Fontaine, in comparison with Clover, despite the friendship, there's a feeling that the position of his family is always there; he comes from the equivalent of nobility in this world, and will do all in his power to avoid any kind of scandal, eventually opposing those that he appreciates. While the other two members of the group are less relevant plot wise talking, Parry manages to give them an excellent characterization, allowing us to connect with them at some points of the story.
The setting is another of the highlights of this novel: a post-WWI England, a world where fae magic and secrets are forbidden after the catastrophe at Amiens, and a magical world that is basically the aristocracy; Clover comes from the commoner class, and we can see how that is a handicap to be accepted into the magical families. The academia setting is impeccable, a new world that we experience through Clover's eyes; the prose is absolutely gorgeous, naturally flowing and making this read an absolute pleasant experience.
The Scholar and the Last Faerie Door is an excellent novel, perfect for those that are looking for a dark academia proposal that plays around with themes such as friendship, loyalty and fae. You can be sure that if you like historical fantasy, this novel is totally for you!
The Author/s
H.G. Parry
H.G. Parry is the author of THE UNLIKELY ESCAPE OF URIAH HEEP, The Shadow Histories duology, and the forthcoming THE MAGICIAN’S DAUGHTER. Her short fiction has appeared in Intergalactic Medicine Show, Daily Science Fiction, and small press anthologies, and she holds a PhD in English Literature from Victoria University of Wellington. She currently lives in a book-infested flat on the Kāpiti Coast in New Zealand, which she shares with her sister and an increasing menagerie of small animals.