The Winter Folk by Jen Julian

 

She grew up in a small mountain town, told stories about the creatures that abounded in the woods around them by her mother.  But she is not ready when Lo appears and offers her a job for the winter at a resort named Deerhaven.  Lo takes her for an interview with the master, Mr. Oslin.  He tells her that she will be a housekeeper, doing whatever is necessary to keep the guests happy.  If she successfully finishes her contract, she can have her wish.  She will be called Moth and one of the rules she must follow is that she can never tell anyone her other name.  Moth agrees and wildly asks for something she thought was impossible; a big four bedroom house with a scenic view and moonflowers always in bloom on the patio.  Mr. Oslin agrees and tells her that Lo will come to get her the week before Christmas and bring her back to Deerhaven to start her work.

Moth returns to be a housekeeper, both that year and several others.  She makes two friends, another housekeeper named Briar and Crow, Mr. Oslin's errand boy.  The guests at Deerhaven can be easy to work with or horrific and there are many adventures Moth and her friends have.  Eventually, they start to see the evil at Deerhaven under the glitz and Moth does something so out of character that she is sent away and banned from ever returning.  That despite the fact that she is madly in love with Mr. Oslin.  She never sees her friends again.

Now Moth has returned to her hometown, grown, married and with a daughter who is the same age she was when she was lured to Deerhaven.  Her daughter is remote, spending her time in her room and Moth can't get through to her.  Her husband is an optimist and just assumes that everything will eventually work out but Moth knows there is danger in the mountains and forest and will do anything to save her daughter from being a victim.

Jen Julian is an American author who writes in the fantasy/horror genre.  This is her second novel and I fell in love with it immediately.  She often sets her characters into dangerous surroundings and then sees how they escape them....or not.  She also writes about relationships and there are plenty of those in this novel, Moth and her Deerhaven friends, Moth and Mr. Oslin, Moth and her mother, Moth and her daughter and Moth and her husband.  How she relates to each one and how she faces tragedy and danger is fascinating and I'll definitely be reading more of her work.  This book is recommended for fantasy readers.