"[A] book that's both strange and gorgeous.... It's the sort of literary work whose pieces ... all work together in perfect harmony."
—Anne Thériault in Quill & Quire

“Survival of a great loss is the fulcrum of this fascinating, reflective memoir, in which Sarah Ellis has to re-discover herself after the long-planned, physician-assisted death of her beloved wife.  An unforgettable, very moving book.”
—Susan Cooper, author of The Dark is Rising

“Anyone who loves language and loves reading, and anyone who has loved and lost and mourned, will cling like a (probably weeping) limpet to the gorgeous rock of this book.  Measured and anguished, good-humoured and wise, it's a persuasive, beautifully written, read-it-in-a-single-sitting-and-then-go-back-and-read-it-again account of the jangled cadences of bereavement; a testament to how literature can soften, if not utterly resolve, the discord of grief and loss. I've never read anything quite like this memoir, and I’m grateful to have done so now. It’s an unforgettable book-- its own kind of miracle.”
—Bill Richardson, author of The Bachelor Brothers’ Bed and Breakfast

“Remember what it’s like to first train a pair of binoculars upon a bird perched in a distant tree? Sarah Ellis’s memoir returns to me that sense of discovery, as it focuses upon her idiosyncratic and necessary journey through grief. Sparely, with severe and tender honesty, My Year in Fairyland recounts several journeys laid transparently upon one another—through love, through childhood, through death and grief. And through story. A reader feels to be a discreet and ghostly presence at the necessary bedside, and grateful for the honor.”
/—Gregory Maguire, author of Wicked

“An exquisitely written, brave, and honest depiction of a surreal time that ended with a loved one dying through medically assisted death. The searing sadness of this memoir is balanced by erudite and often amusing asides into the worlds of fairies, language, stories, and play. What shines through is Sarah Ellis's loving respect for her wife's decision.”
—Kit Pearson, C.M. Winner of the 2025 George Woodcock Lifetime Achievement Award

“The book is loving, thought provoking, sad, beautiful and hopeful….”
—Gail Kaneb, Co-Founder of Tostan Canada