The Cottingley Cuckoo
A novel of belief, changelings, and the Cottingley fairy photographs.
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The Cottingley Cuckoo is an urban fantasy and horror novel by A. J. Elwood, the pen name of English author Alison Littlewood. Titan Books first released it in the United Kingdom in April 2021. The story draws on the 1920 Cottingley fairy photographs. It follows Rose, a caregiver at Sunnyside Care Home in the 2020s.
Background
A resident shows her letters written in the 1920s, shortly after the fairy photographs were published. The letter writer claims to have seen fairies too and insists he has proof of their existence. The novel grew from Cottingley, a 2017 novella by Littlewood that consisted of those 1920s letters.
Plot summary
In the 2020s, Rose begins work at Sunnyside Care Home, assigned to look after an elderly woman named Charlotte Favell. Mrs. Favell is intimidating, formidable, and mysterious. One day she shows Rose an old letter from 1921, written by Lawrence Fenton to Arthur Conan Doyle. At that time, Conan Doyle had just published photographs that cousins Frances Griffiths and Elsie Wright supposedly took of fairies in Cottingley.
Fenton writes that he, his daughter-in-law Charlotte, and his seven-year-old granddaughter Harriet have also seen and photographed fairies. He claims they found a dead fairy and brought it home as proof. Though the original photographs were later revealed as fakes, Rose becomes fascinated by the letter.
Over weeks, Mrs. Favell teases Rose with more letters. After getting no reply from Conan Doyle, Fenton wrote to Edward Gardner, an associate of Doyle.
In these letters, Fenton describes fairies not as pretty winged beings but as dangerous, vindictive creatures from folklore. He says he believes Charlotte is held captive by fairies and that the woman in his house is a changeling. In another letter, he tells Gardner that Harriet has gone to the fairies.
Mrs. Favell grows more enigmatic, and Rose feels she can read her mind. Mrs. Favell tells Rose she is pregnant before Rose knows it herself, and says the baby should be named Robyn.
Later, Mrs. Favell’s daughter Harriet visits, and Rose sees Harriet is also pregnant. Harriet touches Rose’s belly sympathetically, but Rose is disturbed. Rose begins to wonder if Charlotte and Harriet are the same people from Fenton’s letters, and if they are mischievous fairies.
When Rose gives birth, the baby is a boy, not “Robyn” as predicted.
Background
The Cottingley Cuckoo evolved from Cottingley, a novella Littlewood wrote in 2017 that is a collection of 1920s letters. The novel follows Rose, a caregiver at the Sunnyside Care Home in the 2020s, who is shown letters by a resident, Charlotte Favell. The letters, written in 1921 by Lawrence Fenton to Arthur Conan Doyle and later to Edward Gardner, claim that Fenton, his daughter-in-law Charlotte, and his granddaughter Harriet saw and photographed fairies and found a dead fairy. The letters reveal fairies as dangerous, vindictive creatures, and Fenton believes Charlotte is a changeling and that Harriet has gone to the fairies.
Rose becomes captivated by the letters and begins to suspect that Charlotte and her daughter Harriet are the same people from the letters, possibly fairies themselves. After Rose gives birth to a boy named Alexander, she becomes convinced that Harriet's baby, Robyn, is her own child swapped for a changeling. Rose confronts Harriet, who explains that Charlotte's father-in-law murdered her young daughter, and Charlotte later adopted Harriet, believing her a changeling. Charlotte was found to have Capgras Syndrome, but Rose dismisses this and remains certain that Charlotte and Harriet are fairies, determined to reclaim Robyn.
Did You Know?
- The character Charlotte Favell was later found to have Capgras Syndrome, a condition where a person believes a loved one has been replaced by an impostor.
- The novel's title refers to the cuckoo, a bird known for laying eggs in other birds' nests, paralleling the changeling theme.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is The Cottingley Cuckoo about?
The plot follows Rose, a caregiver at Sunnyside Care Home in the 2020s, who stumbles upon 1920s-era letters in which a resident insists he personally saw fairies and holds proof of their existence. The book weaves together themes of belief, changelings, and the infamous Cottingley fairy photographs.
What earlier work is The Cottingley Cuckoo based on?
The 2021 full-length novel grew out of a 2017 novella also titled Cottingley, written by Littlewood. That shorter piece provided the foundation that was later expanded into the more fully realized book published by Titan Books.
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Sources
Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: The Cottingley Cuckoo (CC BY-SA 4.0).
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