Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries: a good first chapter

Thoughts on Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett - MODERATE SPOILERS

Apr 30, 2025

Spoiler warning for Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett

On a scale between mild, moderate, and major, this entry contains moderate spoilers. That includes:

A deep dive into the first chapter of the story;
References to the 4 main plotlines of the book as they are presented in the first chapter, with hints on how they develop later on.

Based on the plotline references in the first chapter, you may infer what happens later on in the story. That said, I don’t write explicitly or in detail about any following plot points of the book.

When I started to analyze “Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries” (something that I did in preparation for the rewrite of the 1st draft of my novel1), I identified four plotlines that I wanted to follow throughout the book.

They could be called:

📖 The “main” plotline, prompted by the protagonist’s motivation;
🫱🏼‍🫲🏼 The “social” plotline, which follows the protagonist’s relationship with other people;
❤️ The “romance” plotline, which I hope is self-explanatory;
☠ The “survival” plotline, affected mainly by the harsh conditions of the setting.

As soon as I started re-reading the book, I noticed something about the first chapter.

It references all four plotlines that I had planned to track. Some of the references are deeper than others, but still, I found it extremely interesting to notice that they were all there.

Thinking about it, it’s a smart thing to do: you want to tease the reader and tell them right away what your story is about. I thought there might be something I could learn out of this, so here’s my deep dive into the first chapter of Emily Wilde’s and its four plotlines.

1.📖 Emily’s research of Fae - the main plotline

Herein I intend to provide an honest account of my day-to-day activities in the field as I document an enigmatic species of faerie called “Hidden Ones.” This journal serves two purposes: to aid my recollection when it comes time to formally compile my field notes, and to provide a record for those scholars who come after me should I be captured by the Folk.

Fawcett, Heather. Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries (p. 3). Random House Worlds

We discover in the very first few pages that Emily Wilde, our protagonist, is a professor of “dryadology” (the study of Faerie and their civilization) whose intention is to research the species of faerie inhabiting the (imaginary) island of Ljosland off the coast of Norway.

We learn that this is not Emily’s first expedition: she’s been out and about many times before, in various parts of the world—she’s a professional. From her inner monologue (and some dialogues later on), we can tell that she knows what she’s talking about. Still, this region is new to her and may bring up some unexpected challenges.

I have seen communities far more rustic than Hrafnsvik, for my career has taken me across Europe and Russia, to villages large and small and wilderness fair and foul. I am used to humble accommodations and humble folk—I once slept in a farmer’s cheese shed in Andalusia—but I have never been this far north. The wind had tasted snow, and recently; it pulled at my scarf and cloak. It took some time to haul my trunk up the road, but I am nothing if not persevering.

Fawcett, Heather. Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries (p. 5). Random House Worlds

As we discover in the following chapter, Emily’s been working for nine years on an incredibly challenging and ambitious project: a book about all known species of Folk (alternative term for Faerie)—the “Encyclopaedia of Faerie”.

The first chapter is a great introduction to the protagonist, her abilities and knowledge, as well as her motivations, but it’s a great introduction to the Faerie as well. Even though we don’t meet any of them, we get hints of their mysterious and dangerous nature. First of all, Emily herself in the first quote I shared (which is on the very first page of the book!) admits the possibility that she could be captured by them. That’s telling.

Some more ominous hints follow, as Emily talks to Krystjan Egilson, the gruff owner of the cottage she will be staying in while conducting her research.

“I understand that you have several species of faerie in Ljosland, many of which can be found in this part of the Suðerfjoll Mountains. I have stories of Folk ranging from brownie type to courtly fae to investigate.”
“I don’t know what any of that means,” he said in a flat voice. “But you’d be best confining your investigations to the wee ones. No good will come of your provoking the others, for yourself or for us.”
I was immediately intrigued by this, though I’d of course heard hints of the fearsome nature of the courtly fae of Ljosland—that is, those faeries who assume near-human form. But my questions were forestalled by the wind, which blew open the door and spat a great breath of snowflakes into the cottage. Egilson shouldered it closed again.

Fawcett, Heather. Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries (pp. 8-9). Random House Worlds

The tease is (well, for sure for me) well done: it promises the reader that there’ll be something interesting to discover about these creatures.

So here we have it: the protagonist’s motivation and the ominous nature of her field of study. This is the main and most obvious plotline that will unfold in the book.

2.🫱🏼‍🫲🏼 Emily and the village of Hrafnsvik - the social plotline

(Or, how I like to call it, the “Western2” plotline).

I managed to drag my trunk up the dock and through the village—few were about, being most likely in their fields or fishing boats, but those few stared at me as only rural villagers at the edge of the known world can stare at a stranger. None of my admirers offered help.

Fawcett, Heather. Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries (p. 5). Random House Worlds

Emily lands in the remote village of Hrafnsvik and is immediately spotted as a stranger. A weird one at that: someone who, for whatever ill reason, wants to poke at the fae.

The welcome she gets isn’t terribly warm: Krystjan Egilson, the owner of the cottage she will be living in, is gruff and, well, pretty rude.

“Quite a journey you’ve had,” Egilson said, staring at me disconcertingly. “All the way from London. Get seasick?”
“Cambridge, actually. The ship was quite—”
“Villagers stared as you came up the road, I bet? ‘Who’s that little mouse of a thing, coming up the road?’ they were thinking. ‘She can’t be that fancy scholar we’ve been hearing about, come all the way from London. Looks like she’d never survive the journey.’ ”
“I wouldn’t know what they were thinking about me,” I said, wondering how on earth to turn the conversation to more pressing matters.
“Well, they told me,” he said.
“I see.”
“Ran into old Sam and his wife, Hilde, on the way up. We’re all very curious about your research. Tell me, how is it that you plan on catching the Folk? Butterfly net?”

Fawcett, Heather. Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries (pp. 7-8). Random House Worlds

Aaahhhh the cringe. Beautifully delivered. I felt for Emily here.

The thing is, Emily’s relationship with the people in Hrafnsvik will be a very important deal throughout the story. For a start, she needs their collaboration for her research, as she needs their knowledge of their Folk; but then, as the story progresses, Emily’s entanglement with the villagers won’t be only scholarly, but of emotional nature as well.

It’ll get time to get there, though. The first chapter sets it up, showing out of place Emily is in here and having us wonder how that will impact her.

3.❤️ Emily Wilde and Wendell Bambleby - the romance plotline

I should mention here that I am terrible at reading people, a failing that has landed me in my fair share of inconveniences. Bambleby would have known exactly what to make of this bear of a man, would probably already have him laughing at some charmingly self-effacing joke.
Bloody Bambleby, I thought.

Fawcett, Heather. Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries (p. 7). Random House Worlds

When I was re-reading the book, I was shocked to realize, Wendell is already mentioned here!

Wendell Bambleby, Emily’s much more successful colleague and kinda her only friend, is a character that will become more important later on (as the title of this paragraph suggests, wink wink). He’s not present in the first chapter of the book, only mentioned—and what is mentioned about him is interesting, because it doesn’t tell us only something about him, but more about Emily herself, too.

The few hints we get about him make him a (annoyingly so) charming guy, good with people. It’s unclear at this point if Emily enjoys his company or not (leaning towards “not”). In opposition to him, Emily is “terrible at reading people” and, as it comes out later on, a walking social landmine.

This is really just a vague mention, but strategically positioned: I had forgotten about it upon the re-read, but it surely subconsciously helped me navigate the developments of the following chapters.

4.☠ Emily and the winter - the survival plotline

I was shivering, in spite of the uphill trunk-dragging, and I realized I had neither wood nor matches to warm that dingy place, and perhaps more alarmingly, that I might not know how to light a fire if I did—I had never done so before. Unfortunately, I happened to glance out the window at that moment and found that it had begun to snow.
It was then, as I stared at the empty hearth, hungry and cold, that I began to wonder if I would die here.

Fawcett, Heather. Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries (p. 6). Random House Worlds

The winter—or generally, the weather conditions and the harshness of the land—becomes very quickly a character of its own. Its presence is constantly looming in the first chapter—it’s the thing that makes this whole endeavor crazy and dangerous. It’s technically not the only factor that influences the “survival” aspect of the story, but a poignant one.

“It’s snowing,” I said, an uncharacteristic inanity. I’m sorry to say that the sight of snow drifting into the fireplace had me edging once again towards morbid despair.
“It does that on occasion,” replied Egilson with a touch of black humour that I found preferable to false friendliness, which is not the same as saying I appreciated it. “Not to worry, though. Winter isn’t here yet, it’s just clearing its throat. These clouds will open up momentarily.”

Fawcett, Heather. Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries (p. 9). Random House Worlds

Taking care of the wood supplies for the cottage will be a thing in the story. I’ll leave it at that.

Some of these plotlines are more obvious than others, but they all end up affecting the story dramatically. It gives me thought: would I be able to include a mention of each plotline of my story in my first chapter? I think it’s a great guideline to tell if the first chapter is setting up all the necessary promises.

Have you also ever re-read a first chapter to then re-discover a reference that you completely forgot about and that you can now recognize, because it ties with something that happens later on in the story? Let me know by simply replying to this email, writing me at ryeyoubs@gmail.com, or leaving a comment!

Take care,

Rye Youbs