The Folk Keeper

This is a wonderful book. Normally I dislike books told through letters and journals, as by design the action is taking place before or after the present writing. However, Corin's journal and experiences paint the world around her, her blindspots and insights as important as the events she writes about. Having the story told through her written thoughts, rather than an omniscient perspective in her head, was a critical component that made this book all the more effective. Reading THE FOLK KEEPER felt like nothing so much as a treasure hunt, gathering pieces of Corin and fitting them together to form a whole. Though Billingsley has created a startlingly creative world, she manages to keep it grounded and explainable in a way that makes it all the more fantastic. A wonderful fairy tale, I can’t wait to read more by this author. ( )

The Folk Keeper is like a prototype for Chime. Something about the narration, the tone, the characters. I still liked it, though, even if not as much as Chime -- it's shorter, lighter, and it does have details all its own: Corinna has her own lovely-strange powers, her own story.

If you liked Chime, The Folk Keeper may seem like an easier, shorter version, but it's still very good. I read it all in one go, and apparently my train stopped in Cheltenham without me even noticing... ( )

Here is as pretty a case of mis-marketing as you could mention. From my initial glances at the front cover, I expected something sort of young and cute. That’s not the case at all. Instead, the story is shadowy and haunting, the writing absolutely gorgeous. It needs a new cover to market it to the YA crowd, because I didn’t find it juvenile at all, but the cover says that’s what it is. Definitely one for the Patricia McKillip fans out there. ( )

KLIATT
To quote KLIATT's Nov. 1999 review of the hardcover edition: Corinna, raised in a foundling home, takes over the role of a boy who had apprenticed to become the Rhysbridge Home's new Folk Keeper. Calling herself "Corin," wearing breeches, and cutting her strange silver hair (though it grows two inches every night), she protects the home from the dreadful, mysterious Folk who live in the cellars by means by strange rites and food offerings. Now, however, at the age of 15, Corinna has been summoned to the deathbed of the lord of a great manor, Cliffsend, to be the Folk Keeper there...She knows nothing of her parentage or her background, nor why she is so strongly attracted to the sea that surrounds Cliffsend. There she meets Lady Alicia, second wife of the lord, and her kind, handsome son Finian, as well as the nasty, ambitious Sir Edward, who wants Cliffsend for his own. Family secrets are gradually revealed as Corinna, still disguised as Corin the Folk Keeper, struggles to keep the Folk from harming the manor, falls in love with Finian, and discovers that she is the true heir to Cliffsend—and that Sir Edward wants to do away with both her and Finian. Corinna finds out that like her dead mother, she is a Sealmaiden, both seal and human; but that for her the power of love is greater than the lure of the sea...this slight book has the timeless quality of all good fables. A dark and riveting treat for fantasy lovers, with an appealingly mysterious cover.... (Editor's note: a Publisher's Weekly and School Library Journal Best Book, among other awards.). KLIATT Codes: JS*—Exceptional book, recommended for junior and senior high school students. ( )

The Folk Keeper is a small book, the story Corinna, a young girl that disguises herself as a boy, Corin, to be able to be a Folk Keeper. Being a Folk Keeper is all she ever wanted to do. But when she is summoned by Lord Merton to be the Folk Keeper of the huge estate in Cliffsend she starts to see that maybe being a Folk Keeper is not all that it's cracked to be. There the Folk are vicious, and her own powers seem to lose strength.

Of course there are some good things to her new life in Cliffsend, Corinna lives with more comfort, and gains a friend, Finian, who is the reluctant heir to Merton Hall – he would much rather be a fisherman or a sailor. And then there are bad things that happen, of course, otherwise there would be no story.

I liked Corinna because she is not the sweet little girl one would expect of a children's book. She is angry and vindictive at times, and always makes sure she comes out on top. As I read the book, which is in diary form, I started to realize why she is the way she is. She is an orphan, and a girl, which would mean a life of being a servant. But she decides to pose as a boy, gathering the knowledge of Folk Keepers apprentices in exchange of doing chores, and making sure that wherever she is Folk Keeper, she is essential.

This may seem cold, and in a way, Corinna is cold. But it left an opening for a great duo, between her and Finian, who is the sweetest and most cheerful of people. He has a deeper intelligence, and see things that others don't – not through any special power, but because he cares enough to look.

The action, though, has very little to do with their interaction, and more with Corinna discovering herself. And I also liked that part – there was a bit of darkness in it, with stories of crazy maidens and forays into graveyards in the middle of the night and murder attempts! And all in such a tiny book!

The feeling at the end was of a pleasant book. Not stellar, but it will leave your heart a little bit warmer.

Also at Spoilers and Nuts ( )