Summer Reading: Silver in the Wood

Continuing a summer time exploration of contemporary folk literature, I recently picked up Silver in the Wood by Emily Tesh. A slight 105-page volume, Silver in the Wood is a revisualization of the Green Man motif packed with vivid imagery of ancient forests filled with mythical creatures and love found then lost. Set in the “primeval forest” (35) of Greenhollow Wood, our story starts when Tobias Finch, the Green Man mystically tethered to the forest, offers shelter from a rain storm to a handsome, affluent young man, Henry Silver. Henry is an inquisitive young man who is the lord of a nearby village who fancies himself a “practical folklorist,” and as such, his interest in Tobias is immediate.

One need come to the text with zero background regarding the Green Man. I read Silver in the Wood simply as a folk tale and found it to be a brisk, very engaging experience. Many of the archetypes one would expect to come across in a traditional folktale are present (mother, woodsman, etc.), but with a slight twist. Advance online reading also revealed to me that Tesh's piece is also considered a representative of LGBTQ literature, I would presume based upon the clear attraction between the two male leads.

The inherent loneliness experienced by both main characters (one isolated by wealth and the other by purpose) serves as the basis of their attraction. Of such circumstances, romance often blooms. The love Henry and Tobias share feels pure, and very complicated, a state of affairs that also rings true in many relationships, romantic and otherwise. Surprisingly, despite its brief page count, the relationship between the two main characters seems earned due to the slow dance they must go through toward one another without their combined trials growing toward a traditional happy ending.

From the onset, we learn that Tobias, as the Green Man, has become accustomed to living a solitary life, so much so that he “could not even recognize a handsome lad suggesting a bit of mutual entertainment anymore” (14). Eventually, Tobias warms up to Henry’s flirtations eventually recognizing his good fortune in “be[ing] flirted with by a pretty young fellow who wore expensive coats.” (30) The romance in Silver in the Wood is subtle and very psychological (spiritual?), which, for this reader, heightened the level of intimacy shared by them. Tesh vividly describes certain character interactions in such a manner as to infer a physical attraction between the two. Like good literature should, Tesh's fairly uncomplicated narrative offers a number of different lenses or experiences in which to engage and enjoy the text.

I quickly devoured the text for purely entertainment purposes (the best reason to read!), though as certain elements and characterization came into view I had to resist the urge to begin annotating and analyzing. I look forward to recommending and sharing Silver in the Wood with others.