Amazon.com
She is never cold, she always knows exactly what time it is, and her hair grows two inches while she sleeps. Fifteen-year-old Corinna Stonewall--the only Folk Keeper in the city of Rhysbridge--sits hour after hour with the Folk in the dark, chilly cellar, "drawing off their anger as a lightning rod draws off lightning." The Folk are the fierce, wet-mouthed, cave-dwelling gremlins who sour milk, rot cabbage, and make farm animals sick. Still, they are no match for the steely, hard-hearted, vengeful orphan Corinna who prides herself in her job of feeding, distracting, and otherwise pacifying these furious, ravenous creatures. The Folk Keeper has power and independence, and that's the way she likes it.
One day, Corinna is summoned by Lord Merton to come to the vast seaside estate Cliffsend as Folk Keeper and family member--for she is the once-abandoned child he has been looking for. It is at Cliffsend that Corinna learns where her unusual powers come from, why she is drawn to the sea, and finally, what it means to be comfortable in her own skin. Written in the form of a journal, The Folk Keeper is a powerful story of a proud, ferociously self-reliant girl who breaks out of her dark, cold, narrow world into one of joy, understanding, and even the magic of romance. Franny Billingsley, author of the critically acclaimed fantasy Well Wished, has created a vividly portrayed, deliciously frightening novel that will have readers glued to the pages until the very un-bitter end. (Ages 10 and older) --Karin Snelson
From Publishers Weekly
In our Best Books of 2001 citation, PW wrote, "Billingsley draws on storytelling traditions yet invents a thoroughly original subterranean world inhabited by menacing creatures called Folk. Hang on for a hair-raising ride." Ages 10-14. Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
From School Library Journal
Gr 5-8-Franny Billingsley's The Folk Keeper (Atheneum, 1999), set in mythical England and written in diary form, is well suited to the audio format. The story is the folk record of Corinna Stonewall, a 15-year-old orphan girl disguised as a boy in order to be a folk keeper, rather than a servant. The job of a folk keeper is so important that it gives even an orphan power, and Corinna is determined never to be powerless. Corinna's voice, as brought to life by Marian Tomas Griffin, is clear and confused as only a teenager's can be. The folk keeper's job is to keep the Folk (strange, frightful creatures that live in caverns and passages under the cellar) happy or, at least, not angry. If the Folk become angry, they blight the crops and animals. When the folk record begins, Corinna has been keeping the Folk at the Rhysbridge foundling home happy. Dying Lord Merton bids her to go to his estate at Cliffsend to be raised as a lady, or as a gentleman, if she prefers to keep her disguise. She demands to be appointed folk keeper too, knowing a lady or a gentleman can be just as powerless as an orphan. Corinna finds secrets, danger, and even the promise of happiness at Cliffsend. Narrator Marian Tomas Griffin is an Irish actress and musician. Her accent is just enough to bring mystery and far off places to mind, but can be understood easily. Billingsley's words and Griffin's voice weave a beautiful and frightening world of magic, mystery, and deceit along with ladies in velvet, manor homes, and even love. The story will appeal to both boys and girls. It can be used to introduce folktales and the fantasy genre.-Suzanne Libra, Huron Middle School, Northglenn, COCopyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
Grade 5-8-A young orphan charged with placating the volatile Folk, believed to control her people's fate, discovers the world of the sea and begins to understand her mysterious heritage. A gripping gothic romance and selkie tale rolled into one. (Oct.) Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.
The New York Times Book Review, Betsy Hearne
The story of Corinna's survival sustains a lyrical narrative. There's poetry not only in the style but also in the story elements themselves.
From AudioFile
Imagine yourself a helpless orphan destined to serve others. Would you not struggle to find a position to grant you some measure of authority? Better still should it grant you profound power. So Corinna Stonewall becomes Folk Keeper of the city of Rhysbridge. As Corinna's folk record begins, and we encounter her stubborn, rapacious spirit, Griffin's narration sounds too cheerful for the vengeful words written by a girl desperately battling to keep the evil Folk at bay. Despite this inconsistency and the flawed voicing of Sir Edward, Griffin's sweet-voiced narration becomes a better match for Corinna as she evolves, struggling to learn the truth about her nature and encountering for the first time a person she can love. Despite some flaws, this winner of the Boston Globe Horn Book Award for Fiction is recommended. T.B. ALA Notable Recording 2001 © AudioFile 2001, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine
From Booklist
The author of Well Wished (1997) draws on selkie folklore for an eerie tale of young, orphaned Corinna, who disguises herself as a boy so she can pose as a Folk Keeper. Her job is to keep at bay the ravenous Folk that live beneath the foundling home by feeding them and siphoning off their anger so they won't spoil the milk, frighten the livestock, rot the harvest, and so forth. Then she's summoned by the dying lord of a vast estate on Cliffsend, the largest of the Northern Isles, which has miles of underground caverns populated by wild, especially savage Folk. She not only is to be the Folk Keeper but is also, to her bewilderment, given a place at the family table. She's unpleasant and vengeful at first because of her hardscrabble life, but she thrives and mellows in the north, close to the sea, as she slowly learns about her heritage; for example, why the sea calls to her, why she has an internal clock, why her hair grows two inches a night, and who her parents were. She faces great danger from the fierce Folk, who are "mostly wet mouth and teeth," and is threatened by a member of the family who wants her out of the way. She also falls in love with the heir to the estate. The telling is immediate and compelling, and there is a decided sense of impending menace, especially when Corinna is trapped in the underground caves. A memorable story that unfolds largely through the entries in Corinna's Folk Record. Sally Estes
From Kirkus Reviews
From Billingsley (Well-Wished, 1997), an inventive and romantic fusion of the selkie tale with that of a nameless, hungry Folk who must be kept at bay. Corinna is crafty and sullen: she lives in the cellar of a foundling home whose dark and damp she loves, and keeps the Folk quiescent by offerings of food, and circles of iron and salt. She has made herself into a Folk Keeper by cutting off her silver hair, which grows wondrously, and passing herself off as a boy, for only boys perform this task. She has no training but she listens and learns, and when she is summoned to a great estate, she seizes the opportunity. Still in her boy's disguise, she becomes Folk Keeper at Lady Alicia's Cliffsend by the sea. With Lady Alicia's son, Finian, Corrina learns from and loves the sea, which speaks to her in new ways, but mysteries of a former Lady, a buried child, and the sinister Sir Edward cloud her understanding. Writing in a diary format, with saints' and solstice celebrations marking the movement of the Folk, Billingsley makes a rich metaphor of Corrina's rejection of food and warmth, and weaves the discovery of her magic into the unfolding of her selfhood and her true history. This will surely enthrall those who loved Berlie Doherty's Daughter of the Sea (1997). (Fiction. 10-14) -- Copyright ©1999, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
Review
"The author's ear for language, her use of classic motifs and her stalwart heroine makes this novel an evocative, unforgettable read." -Publishers Weekly, starred review
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