The Story Collector Even ordinary people have extraordinary stories to tell ...

Sprachlich ist das Buch gelungen und die Handlung durchaus interessant angelegt. Dennoch fehlte mir persönlich die nötige Spannung, um wirklich in die Geschichte hineinzufinden, sodass sich das Lesen für mich über weite Strecken eher zäh und langatmig angefühlt hat.

„Die Geschichtensammlerin“ hat mich sofort berührt, weil es nicht nur eine Geschichte über Bücher und Geschichten ist, sondern auch über das Leben selbst. Evie Woods verknüpft geschickt Realität und Magie und erschafft damit eine Erzählung, die sowohl zum Träumen als auch zum Nachdenken einlädt. Die Hauptfigur hat mir sehr gefallen: ihre Liebe zu Geschichten, ihre Verletzlichkeit und gleichzeitig ihre Stärke machen sie unglaublich nahbar. Besonders schön fand ich, wie die Begegnungen mit anderen Menschen und ihren ganz eigenen Geschichten die Handlung prägen – fast wie kleine Mosaiksteine, die ein großes Ganzes ergeben. Woods’ Schreibstil ist wieder einmal voller Wärme und Poesie. Sie schafft es, Gefühle so greifbar zu machen, dass ich beim Lesen lachen, seufzen und sogar ein bisschen weinen musste. Manche Wendungen sind vorhersehbar, aber das passt für mich perfekt zu der märchenhaften Atmosphäre. Fazit: „Die Geschichtensammlerin“ ist eine zauberhafte, emotionale Geschichte über die Kraft von Worten, Erinnerungen und Hoffnung. Für mich ein richtiges Herzensbuch, das noch lange nachhallt.

We are in the present (2010) in New York and meet Sarah Harper. She just left her husband and wanted to fly for Christmas to her sister. She is not looking forward to this and when she reads in an Irish newspaper that in Clare a motorway is moved due to local pressure to keep a fairy tree where it is, she boards a plane to the West Coast of Ireland. There she founds a dairy taking her back into the year 1911 where she learns about the live of Anna, a young farm girl and the arrival of an intriguing American visitor who is looking for stories, interactions of fairy stories. As usual back then many people spoke Irish hence he was looking for somebody to translate this into English for him and to guide him the way to the right person who has stories for him. So we learn more about the fairy seeing and interactions within the small town but also about Anna, her live and hopes. On the other side we learn what happened to Sarah so she ended up in Ireland and how she learns to live with grieve and how she is sorting her live to start moving forward. I really loved this book! I like the way the story is told and for me it is perfectly done to have two different stories in two timelines. I really like how the stories get connected. For me the author really caught the Irish flair here especially also about the old Ireland, how it was back then in small towns and also that she is not using here the friendly and cute looking versions of fairy, no instead she is using the ones which also can harm people that these are a magical species which you don´t want to cross in fear of what they are capable of. At the beginning it was clear to me that something is not all right with Sarah but you did not know what happened to her, made her to the person she currently is. During the story when she is diving into Anna´s story and gets a grip on herself I start to like her. Anna I liked right from the start. OK she is a bit naive but this is due to her young age and growing up in a small town. It is clear in what direction some part of the story will go but it was fine for me and I really liked how the author worked it out. The magical touch in this story is for me really well done and I like how the paranormal is so wonderfully woven into the storyline. So for me a really wonderful surprise how much I liked this story and I really need to check out other books of this author.