This wasn't the best Christmas for Sarah Harper.  Her marriage was over and she had suffered a heartbreaking loss. While waiting for her flight in New York to take her to see family in Massachusetts she stopped at an airport shop and as a result, she embarked on an unexpected journey. Perhaps it was fate, way too much to drink, or something else that she couldn't explain, but she woke up as her plane landed in an airport on the West Coast of Ireland. Once she got over the shock of what she had done, she decided to stay for at least a few days. The only accommodation available was a charming cottage and that became her temporary home.  While exploring the beautiful countryside, she discovered the diary that had belonged to Anna, a young girl who had lived in the cottage one hundred years ago.

THE STORY COLLECTER, a novel by Evie Woods, tells two stories.  One of Anna's from a hundred years ago and Sarah's in the present.  The diary revealed that Anna's farm girl life widened considerably when she became an assistant to an American scholar who had come to Ireland to learn about and to document fairy stories and legends from Irish to English. But that is not all that happened.  An unexpected and shocking incident placed her and those she cared about in a precarious situation. She faced a new reality. While Sarah's story is different, she became immersed in Anna's life.  Could she learn from it?  Could it help her to heal? 

The author has expertly blended the stories of two women who never shared the same time period.  Theirs are the stories that dealt with loss, shattered dreams and introspection. Did their lives turn out as they hoped? 

There is much that makes THE STORY COLLECTOR worth reading. I found it to be a beautifully told unique story.  It is filled with emotion, folklore, mythology and fairy legends.  Fascinating and engrossing, this book is well worth reading.  Highly recommended.