Estate Disputes Among Fairies
I'm currently reading The Ladies of Grace Adieu and Other Stories, written by Susanna Clarke. Ms. Clarke is the author of Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell, one of my favorite books of the past few years. Ms. Clarke's work is like an alternative history of England, where magic and fairies are real. The Ladies of Grace Adieu is a collection of short stories in the same vein as Jonathan Strange (who, along with his partner, appears in one of the stories).
Surprisingly, one of the stories -- "Mr Simonelli or The Fairy Widower" -- contains a passage where the (seemingly half-fairy) narrator, Mr. Simonelli, and the fairy John Hollyshoes discuss a fairy estate dispute involving Mr. Simonelli's father:
Then [John Hollyshoes] began to speak of how my father's affairs had been left in great confusion at his death and how, since that time, the various rival claimants to his estate had been constantly fighting and quarrelling among themselves."Two duels have been fought to my certain knowledge," he said, "and as a natural consequence of this two claimants are dead. Another -- whose passion to possess your father's estate was exceeded only by his passion for string quartets -- was found three years ago hanging from a tree by his long silver hair, his body pierced through and through with the bows of violins, violoncellos, and violas like a musical Saint Sebastian. And only last winter an entire houseful of people was poisoned. The claimant had already run out of the house into the blizzard in her nightgown and it was only her servants that died.,,,
As you can tell, Ms. Clarke's writing is a bit of an acquired taste, but if you enjoy historical fiction and tales of the fantastic, you might want to give her a try.
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