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Photographing Fairies
by Steve Szilagyi
Historical Fiction
In the 1920s, a country policeman, Constable Michael Walsmear, pushes his way into the London studio of Charles Castle, the world-famous American photographer, to show him some pictures. What Castle sees in Walsmear's pictures is incredible. When he goes to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle for verification of the faerie images found on the negatives, Doyle tries to bribe Castle to destroy the pictures. But Castle will not be bought; he is out to discover the truth. And truth he finds in the small village of Burkinwell, a village built upon secrets, strange sexual practices, beautiful gardens, and true human nature.
"Delightfully whimsical.... This sweet little tale turns darker by degrees as little acts of viciousness multiply and the whimsy becomes almost terrifying. It's a delicately constructed maze at turns funny and frightening, and leaves readers perplexed and entertained."
--The Milwaukee Journal
"Szilagyi has written a sprightly first novel full of gentle humor, weird sex and unlikely happenings. Szilagyi writes with a sort of careless half-smile that keeps the reader reading. PHOTOGRAPHING FAIRIES is a small, deft enchantment."
--Kansas City Star
"Extraordinary...While Szilagyi walks the line separating the magical from the mundane, he also weaves together fragments of fiction and history."
--The London Free Press
"An adeptly controlled cross between a mystery, a fantasy and a historical novel."
--The Cleveland Plain Dealer
"An enjoyable mystery-fantasy."
--The San Diego Union-Tribune
"Brilliant."
--Buffalo News
Ohio-born Steve Szilagyi (pronounced Sil-ah-jee) graduated with honors from Columbia University, winning the Columbia Bennett Cerf Award for Fiction for his unpublished story collection The Night Sophia Loren's Dress Caught Fire in a Restaurant. A painter and illustrator, Szilagyi has published drawings in New York magazine and other national publications. Photographing Fairies was his first novel.
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