The Fairy Ring

Losure has written a well-researched and engaging account of what happened when Frances Griffiths and Elsie Wright, two young cousins in early twentieth century England, staged some photographs of fairies (reproduced here). Focusing sympathetically on the girls, the straightforward narrative goes on to report how they responded as adults when the story periodically resurfaced in the media. Bib., ind.

The yearning for the supernatural and the magical to be real seems timeless. In the early years of the twentieth century it was fairies that intrigued, especially those in a handful of photographs made by two girls in England. Word of the photographs spread quickly, causing Arthur Conan Doyle and others to feel that they proved the existence of fairies once and for all. Losure has written an engaging account of the affair, focusing sympathetically on the two young photographers, Frances Griffiths and Elsie Wright. Beginning with Frances's move from South Africa to the village of Cottingley, where she shared a bedroom with her cousin Elsie, Losure provides a straightforward narrative that gives young readers a sense of the girls' different personalities (Elsie "loved a good laugh, she loved to paint, and she didn't like being teased"; Frances was a solitary observer of nature); the girls' daily life in WWI Yorkshire; and the type of small events (a father's teasing) that may well have provoked them to stage the photographs. She goes on to report what happened when they grew up, especially how they responded when the story periodically resurfaced in the media. Losure has done her research -- studying the photographs (reproduced here) themselves, reading all the relevant publications, and, most importantly, digging deep into primary source material, including letters, interviews, and Frances's autobiography. Fine source notes and a bibliography are included. monica edinger