Clare Pollard’s The Modern Fairies (8 hours) transports listeners to a high-class Paris salon where socialites gather to do what they do best: tell stories. A work of historical fiction that features real famous writers Marie D’Aulnoy and Charles Perrault, The Modern Fairies is a sensual, clever reimagining of France during the reign of Louis XIV.
Narrator Kathryn Drysdale takes on the complex challenge of not only voicing a cast of dynamic characters, but also performing the fairy tales that they recite for one another. Energetic and enthusiastic, Drysdale expertly captures the bawdiness of these salons—as well as the darkness that dwells underneath.
Witty and sly, the audiobook edition of The Modern Fairies asks listeners to lean in to scandal, debauchery and deception, inviting us to be part of the gossip and in on the joke. Listening will make you feel like you’re in the salon yourself, allowing you to be a wary observer of the upper class, and giving you a front-row seat to the glittering origins of the fairy tale genre.
Read our starred review of the print version of The Modern Fairies.
