BOOK REVIEW: THE QUEEN OF THE HIGH FIELDS BY RHIANNON A GRIST

4/7/2022

It's hard for me to talk about most UK-based folk horror without mentioning – or even thinking of – The Wicker Man, but Rhiannon A Grist's The Queen of the High Fields definitely brings it to mind, dragging the main character of Carys across the waters to a remote island where a small band of devotees protect an ancient secret. But there the similarities end, as this novella delves into a friendship torn apart by cosmic weirdness via some obscure Welsh mythology.

Chapter by chapter, we flick between present and past, slowly learning about Carys' relationship with her friend Angharad and how the events leading them to discover the place known as High Fields changed their lives. The journey back to High Fields is not one Carys is looking forward to, but she's promised to show a curious tourist and his friend around. As secrets both old and new come to light, Carys finds herself more involved in the fate of the island, and her friend, than she was expecting.

The story follows a pretty standard slow burn folk horror format. The flashback sections go into a lot of detail as the two friends read up on the legends surrounding High Fields and the mysterious power the island holds. As much as these sections flesh out the depth of knowledge needed by the characters to understand what they're getting into, they do sometimes detract from the present-day plot, which has more drive to it.

That main plot deals with Carys and Angharad – affectionately known as 'Hazard' – trying to reconcile their old relationship while keeping the island away from prying eyes. This is made a lot harder by the fact that Hazard has achieved godhood, thanks to an old ritual the pair once performed. The weird magic Hazard has tapped into is at once fascinating and worrying, as she sometimes seems out of her depth, and Carys has to help her deal with this. Other than emotional weight, Carys also carries some trauma from her past dealings with the island's power, leading to some unsettling moments where she mentions partially-seen underwater face or other nameless horrors. A subplot involving an investigation by others into the island's power doesn't really start to grip until the final few chapters; it's really the moments between the two leads where the book shines brightest, and those are what kept me interested through to the emotional ending, along with some evocative, weird imagery and the occasional burst of horror.

Ultimately, the decision to have chapters alternate between past and present didn't really work for me – I didn't find much in the flashbacks which needed to be obscured, no mystery or revelation which influences the present-day plot to any great degree. I felt myself wanting to skip past the flashback chapters at times to get back to the present, but do so at your peril, because there's clearly been a lot of thought put into adapting aspects of Welsh mythology into those scenes, and there are still some decent character moments. Despite my misgivings about the way the story is presented, this is still a pleasing read for fans of atmospheric folk horror.

A review by Ben Walker

THE QUEEN OF THE HIGH FIELDS
BY RHIANNON A GRIST

Two misfits, Carys Price and Angharad 'Hazard' Evans, strike out from their disenfranchised seaside town to take ownership of the High Fields, a mythical island brimming with world-bending promise.

Objecting to the demands of modern society, they hope to find a place where they can live as they choose, but instead they find an ancient power that tears their friendship apart.

Ten years later, Carys returns to the collapsing world of the High Fields to face the terrifying power of the friend-turned-goddess she left behind.