Reviewed by Jonathan Freeman

I must confess, in the interest of full disclosure, that Sophie Powell is a friend of a friend. We have never met and quite frankly she would not know me from a hole in the wall, except maybe that I am bigger than most wall holes. Anyway, as I said, Sophie Powell is the friend of a friend, that’s what got me to buy the book, definitely not what got me to read it. (I, like many people, will purchase books written by vague acquaintances just so I can say I read it and have a conversation starter in the slim chance I actually run into said author.) This is obviously not the reason you should buy the book, (clearly it should be this review.) The reason, though, that I ended up starting to read the book (and finishing it in one sitting) was that the story seemed intriguing and endearing. The story was doubly intriguing given Ms. Powell’s own biography. Seriously, I thought, how much can a 22 year old know about not living up to one’s potential, widowhood, or a husbands need to cheat on their wives with East European nannies. The friend in common got me started on the book, Ms. Powell’s biography got me to finish the first three chapters, and the story’s charm carried me through to the finish line.

The story starts out with two sisters Charlotte and Beth that have lost touch with the reader not being quite certain who’s fault the disconnect is but Charlotte is going to visit Beth with her daughter, Lily. As Charlotte leaves her husband makes a phone call that alludes to an affair with the nanny. After arriving at Berth’s country home Charlotte immediately come into conflict between her prim and proper outlook and the more freewheeling lifestyle of Beth and her children. Lily, an only child, quickly realizes the enjoyment of having siblings through Beth’s triplets who likewise discover the enjoyment of having a younger cousin. Amy, one of the triplets, wants Lily to like her best and creates a beautiful fairy tale about the Mushroom Man. The Mushroom Man was a hermit with fairy seeing abilities, who felt pity for the little Welsh fairies and created little umbrellas for them. As a thank you the fairies built him a magic fairy palace. After hearing the tale, Lily is determined to meet the Mushroom Man and starts plotting of way to gain access to the magical land of fairies. After Lily disappears, all the adults fear the worst that she has been kidnapped but the children believing differently. The story ends somewhat ambiguously, with not being certain what is true and what is fiction.

Ms. Powell definitely has a different writing style than many traditional writers. She does not use much punctuation and as result the book was kind of difficult to follow when needing to attribute comments to one character or another. The nice thing though with that style was that after the first chapter or two I was able to get used to her style and as a result was able to quickly read through the remained of the book.

It will certainly be exciting to see where Ms. Powell takes her writing next. If The Mushroom Man is any indication of a career to follow then all of her readers will have a delightful ride. My final piece of advice is that if you are at all interested in a sweet tale that will make you question your own reality and wonder where the magic is in your own life than The Mushroom Man is for you. Happy Reading.