When Effy Sayer was just a little girl, something terrible happened to her. And she’s been haunted by thoughts and dreams of the fictional Fairy King ever since. But she’s about to learn that stories and dreams aren’t always just make-believe.
When Effy Sayer was just a little girl, something terrible happened to her. And she’s been haunted by thoughts and dreams of the fictional Fairy King ever since. But she’s about to learn that stories and dreams aren’t always just make-believe.
Effy Sayre has always believed in fairy tales.
Back when Effy was just a little girl something terrible happened in her life and left a frightful imprint on her. Since then, she has been, in a way, sustained by a book. Her tattered copy of Angharad—Emrys Myrddin’s epic about a mortal girl who falls in love with a Fairy King, then destroys him—is the only thing keeping her afloat.
The problem is, her obsession with Angharad, its author and its fantasy subject matter has also left Effy a little unsettled. She has visions and nightmares. She was even prescribed drugs for her afflictions: sleeping pills to banish the dark dreams and little pink pills to calm her jangled thoughts during the daylight.
That’s not to say that Effy is a less-than-capable young woman. Quite the opposite. She’s very bright, appealing and able to use her skills in very creative ways. In fact, she would have been a brilliant addition to the Literature College except for the fact that they don’t allow women to enroll there. Instead, Effy applies her gifts to the Architectural College.
There, Effy spots a notice about a special contest established by the Myrddin family. They want someone to redesign the late author’s estate. The goal is to reinvigorate the decrepit Hiraeth Manor, reflecting the character of Myrddin and the spirit of his enormous and influential body of work.
It’s the kind of project that pulls together all of Effy’s greatest passions. Why, she can nearly recite verbatim everything this great man has written. She feels destined to lead this project. And her submitted ideas are quickly chosen.
However, upon arriving at Hiraeth Manor, Effy faces many obstacles. For one, the estate is a leaky, decaying mess, inundated by constant storms that wipe out the rocky roads to the nearest town. Rebuilding on its moldy, flooded foundation will be nearly impossible.
The second hindrance, though, is even worse. Preston Héloury, a stodgy young literature scholar, has also been given access to the estate. The family opened the doors so that he might examine old letters and documents, after which he’ll write a lofty paper on the great man’s life. But Effy soon discovers Preston’s real motive: He’s determined to expose Myrddin as a fraud.
Effy is instantly opposed to everything Preston is trying to do. But she has to admit that some of his well-reasoned logic appears sound. So instead of simply exposing the pretentious guy to Myrddin’s son, Ianto, she resolves to find her own clues in the decomposing estate and prove him wrong.
However, as the two rivals start piecing together shards and scraps about Myrddin’s legacy, Effy soon discovers another impediment to all her efforts: There’s something dark at work in this place, this rotting demesne that gave birth to her beloved Fairy King stories.
It’s a darkness that’s both mortal and magical. And if Effy isn’t careful, it might drive her mad.
None.
There is a magic-based religion in Effy’s fantasy world, and part of it focuses on a massive weather event in the past called The Drowning. This continent-flooding storm gobbled up huge chunks of land in the country’s south, where the Hiraeth Manor is located. And it’s seen by many as a spiritual event.
The Sleeper Museum in the city of Caer-Isle, “the seat of the country’s magic,” holds the corpses of past great men. And those “sleepers” are said to be magically holding a second Drowning at bay.
People speak of the sleepers as saints. And Effy is approached by a shepherd who asks if she believes. He gives her magical rocks called hag stones, through which she can gaze and see spiritual things that aren’t evident to the naked eye. She looks through a hag stone at one point and sees the Fairy King, who’s masquerading as a human.
Someone tells of a blood sacrifice that saved the foundations of the Hiraeth Manor in years past. An orphan boy was chained to the ground and left to drown. In the present, someone else is chained to a flooding part of the house in an attempt to repeat that sacrifice.
Someone hears the tolling bells of churches that were washed away in the original Drowning.
[Spoiler Warning] Early on in the story, many suggest that the dark magical things of the Fairy King are all fictional works dreamed up by Emrys Myrddin. And Effy’s visions of that fairy creature are said to be an effect of her emotionally damaged mind. But it’s later revealed that the powerful Fairy King is real and has been taking control of others (including Myrddin) for many years. This mystical figure once laid claim to Effy when she was a child. And when she was whisked away to safety at the last second, she lost a finger to his magical touch.
Several professors at Effy and Preston’s college are self-important men who take advantage of the students under their charge.
Effy’s college adviser, Master Corbenic, even goes so far as to force himself sexually on her, giving her a bad reputation. He tells her: “You’re the sort of girl who likes to make life more difficult for herself. If you weren’t so pretty you would have failed out already.” Effy later denies that they ever slept together, but his actions were emotionally scarring for the young woman. She blames herself for never being strong enough to say no.
Effy’s mother is equally brusque with her. She abandoned Effy early in life. And even though she eventually saved Effy from dying, Effy’s mom is still rather cruel and heartless toward her daughter.
Ianto Myrddin is another older man who finds Effy very attractive and attempts to force his affections on her. In his case, though, she refuses his advances.
Effy also learns that Emrys Myrddin and his compatriots (publishers and fellow writers) were also less-than-admirable men who manipulated a young woman many years before.
In fact, Preston Héloury is one of the only males in the story with an upright character. When Effy first meets him, he’s rather smug and standoffish; but in time, he and Effy both see each other’s good qualities. He stands up for Effy on numerous occasions.
“For saint’s sake!” is used as an exclamation of exasperation and profanity. We also read uses of “d–n,” “tw-t” and “g-dd–ned.”
Preston and others smoke cigarettes. Effy tries one for the first time. Effy’s mother drinks gin regularly. Effy orders the alcoholic beverage but doesn’t drink it. Several other people drink whiskey. Effy takes her sleeping pills and nerve-calming “pink” pills on several occasions.
We learn that Effy has suffered a lot of abuse in her life, including harsh treatment from her mother and teachers. We eventually realize that much of that stems from her early contact with the Fairy King. That emotional battering is then mirrored by destructive storms when she travels to the Myrddin estate in the south. The rain and winds pummel and pound the building, slowly cracking it open and flooding it. Trees are ripped from the ground.
Effy throws herself out of a moving vehicle to escape a man. She nearly drowns twice (including once when she works to keep Preston from suffering a similar fate as water rises). People are thumped about and chained down. A large chandelier smashes to the ground sending glass shards flying. Someone’s face and leg are cut. An individual ages quickly and finally falls over in a heap of dust and ash.
As mentioned, Effy refutes any suggestion that she and Master Corbenic had sex, but she admits that he forced her to do “other things.”
Effy and Preston become closer and find themselves slowly falling in love. He initially keeps her at arm’s length, even though she is open to being intimate. “I won’t be another guy who uses you,” he declares. Eventually, though, they kiss, embrace and have intercourse.
Effy’s roommate, Rhia, has a girlfriend. The two women walk out of her bedroom after an apparent intimate encounter, looking lightly disheveled. Rhia also makes a point of only calling spiders by male names. “Then it feels more satisfying to squish them,” she notes.
Effy and Preston discover a diary and several snapshots that once belonged to Emrys Myrddin. The pictures are of a young woman in various stages of undress, including one where she exposes her chest. We learn that she was the daughter of Myrddin’s friend.
None.
A Study in Drowning tells a YA story that’s a mixture of emotional abuse, slow-burning romance and a sort of fantasy horror. It encourages female readers to stand up and push back against harsh and abusive individuals in their lives.
Readers should note, however, that the story is less compelling than the author intends. And the emotional and physical cruelty of the tale can feel dark at times.
Those concerns are further amplified by the story’s other content issues, such as sexual relationships (including an allusion to a same-sex encounter), profanity, shadowy spirituality and life-threatening peril.
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Book reviews cover the content, themes and worldviews of fiction books, not necessarily their literary merit, and equip parents to decide whether a book is appropriate for their children. The inclusion of a book’s review does not constitute an endorsement by Focus on the Family.
After spending more than two decades touring, directing, writing and producing for Christian theater and radio (most recently for Adventures in Odyssey, which he still contributes to), Bob joined the Plugged In staff to help us focus more heavily on video games. He is also one of our primary movie reviewers.
