But Silver’s obsession may be his undoing: for the home of the Wild Man may be beautiful, but it’s not entirely safe. Clever, charming, unexpectedly flirtatious, Henry cultivates Tobias – because Henry Silver is a folklorist, and he’s determined to piece together the many myths of Greenhollow. But they strike up a much closer acquaintance when Tobias caves in to the urge to offer the handsome young man in the good coat shelter from the rain. When Henry Silver buys the land, Tobias is aware of the change in legal ownership. Sometimes he’s lost to its timeless song, drifting – it can be difficult to stay in touch with the daily concerns of the local village – other times he’s intimately aware of who sets foot in his wood. He knows every inch of the wood, its ancient boundaries and its current borders and he cares for it as best he’s able. Tobias Finch is a solitary man, living in the depths of Greenhollow with his cat and the occasional company of some dryads. It’s a coy story – to a point – so ‘ware spoilers if you prefer to venture into the woods completely innocent (although I’ll avoid major plot developments). The result is a shimmering mirage of reinvented folklore with a deep sense of place that swept me off my sofa and left me listening to birdsong under dappled sunlight as the branches rustled overhead. Emily Tesh tells her tale in atmospheric prose, full of call backs to the nature of her protagonist, constantly evoking the wood in which he dwells. Silver in the Wood is one of our Subjective Chaos nominees for Best Novella and it’s not difficult to see why. But Greenhollow holds an irresistible attraction for a folklorist – and so does the Wild Man who lives there. When Tobias Finch offers new landowner Henry Silver shelter from the rain, they strike up an unlikely friendship.

Silver in the wood book