[Elizabeth Ratisseau] focuses on our encounters with [fairies] which, rare as they are, offer our only source of information about them. Under one name or another, back as far as human memory extends, fairies have lived in a realm adjacent to our own. Because of their power, their beauty and their similarities to us, most of us are profoundly curious about them. Miss Ratisseau offers here her own speculations, a wide variety of quotations and an intriguing array of paintings and illustrations featuring fairies in their various guises.