It's always a joy to delve back into the squashed-faerie world of the Cottington family created by fantasy-artist extraordinare Brian Froud, and this latest addition to their journals is no exception. Madeline Cottington is the most modern member of the family that we have been privy to meeting, and her take on the faeries that plague the family is decidedly modern in its interpretation. When she first arrives in England when her father's job is relocated from America, she notices that her "eye problems" (read: faeries appearing in her periphery vision) has gotten worse, and she develops an insatiable curiorsity about her father's long-lost British ancestors. Having spoken to her parents (and from the sound of it some professionals as well) about her visions, Madeline is convinced that she is quietly going a bit mad or that there is something medically wrong with her eyes. Yet when she stumbles on a pair of books about her Cottington ancestors (the previous volumes of their published journals that we've all read before) in a bookshop in Camden Market (YES! London's magic coming alive!) she feels an urge to venture to their old family homestead in the English countryside to see if her journey won't give her some answers. From the outset Madeline is helped along the way by some mysterious characters, and on her arrival at the Cottington home she becomes evermore plagued by myserious happenings and the faeries. Discovering additional writings by her ancestors in the Archive Room, Madeline begins to piece together her family history and the strange relationship that they have had over the centuries with the faerie folk - both those that are harmless (the squashed variety) and those that are more dangerous. Madeline's story is one which is absolutely gripping, as we read the discoveries that she chronicles as well as interspersed pages from her ancestors' letters, making this one of the more narrative of the Cottington books. Froud is almost setting us up for additional books (here's hoping) that further explore Madeline and her Cottington relative's adventures, as he leaves the story on a bit of a cliffhanger with Madeline just beginning to figure out some of the clues to her magical past. It goes without saying that the illustrations are wonderful throughout, but the whimsical edited photographs that are also included ground the story with a sense of reality, and further the narrative elements of the book as a whole when paired with Madeline's humourous and youthful words. ( )