This book is a mix of historical fiction and fantasy that sounded intriguing to me fresh off of reading "Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries". My love for that book probably set unfair expectations for this one, but it was not quite what I was hoping for. Set around 1900, this story follows adult sisters Alaine and Delphine, who both get a POV. They've inherited shares of their grandfather's orchard they grew up on, but have very different attitudes about it.

Alaine is dedicated to running the orchard, from the day-to-day operations, to the harvest, to negotiating sales and managing the profits. She even aspires to participate in local politics in order to influence agricultural policies, despite women's lack of autonomy and rights in the time period. Delphine is about to marry a wealthy man from a nearby town, her lifetime of etiquette training finally paying off and allowing her a chance to leave the farm for a more glamorous lifestyle.

Bargaining with fairies is a long-standing tradition for Alaine and Delphine's family, for things like good luck, nice weather, and fruitful harvests. The existence of fairies is not widely accepted, and is seen more as a religious quirk or folktale than reality.

I was hopeful that there would be more direct interaction with fairies in this story, and perhaps a reimagining of how historical events could have been influenced by magic in this world. Instead, there were a lot of small-town politics, women's suffrage, and farming, but very little magic. Fairies don't appear on the page until around 75% into the book, which is not-so-coincidentally when the story starts to pick up.

The writing was enjoyable and easy to read on a line level, and the magical elements were well-thought-out and interesting. The logistics of fairy bargaining and politics were fun to read about, but I kept waiting for the bargains to become more interesting and less mundane. All in all, I would recommend this book for those interested in early 1900s historical fiction, farming stories, etc. but not as much for people who are hoping for a fantasy-heavy book.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, & the author for the advance copy in exchange for my honest review of “The Fairy Bargains of Prospect Hill”.