Michael Barnes
I have yet to read a T.Kingfisher novel that I haven't enjoyed, her mixing of the horrific and charming and the her focus on female characters who in other stories or even history have long made her a favourite of mine.
And whilst I initially struggled with A Sorceress Comes to Call I realised it was nothing to do with Kingfisher but it is set in a period of history I personally find a bit blah. I have a similar issue with some of Shirley Jackson's short stories set in mid-century USA, it's not them it's me.
This story, a retelling of Grimm story of Goose Girl, soon entranced me with the tale of fourteen year old Cordelia whose mother is the titular sorceress Evangeline who seeks a position of security through the control of a wealthy man by marriage. She can brutally compel others to do her bidding, often forcing her daughter into complete, docile obedience whenever she does anything that annoys her. Their house has no doors, and Cordelia is allowed little privacy and fewer dreams of her own, frequently left isolated with no company beyond Falada, Evangeline beautiful, but deeply creepy horse/familiar.
The story is told through dual narratives Cordelia’s voice is balanced by that of the sardonic Hester, a crotchety spinster with a bum knee who brings a mature, sensible spirit to the story and serves as a stoic balance to the timid, socially awkward younger girl who has never been allowed to imagine a life of her own. Neither of these women is what anyone might call a traditional fantasy heroine.
Kingfisher’s male characters are also remarkably multifaceted and emotionally vulnerable in ways this genre is often loath to allow.
I was chuffed to determine a possible timeline to the story as the book Cordelia often refers to on how to behave is "the ladies book of etiquette and manual of politeness' was published in 1860 and a one part of the story references the concern that someone will develop 'Lockjaw'. Since a vaccine for Tetanus was first synthesised in 1890 and the inactive tetanus toxoid in 1924. The more effective adsorbed version of the vaccine, was developed in 1938, so can't be earlier than that.
I have yet to read a T.Kingfisher novel that I haven't enjoyed, her mixing of the horrific and charming and the her focus on female characters who in other stories or even history have long made her a favourite of mine.
And whilst I initially struggled with A Sorceress Comes to Call I realised it was nothing to do with Kingfisher but it is set in a period of history I personally find a bit blah. I have a similar issue with some of Shirley Jackson's short stories set in mid-century USA, it's not them it's me.
This story, a retelling of Grimm story of Goose Girl, soon entranced me with the tale of fourteen year old Cordelia whose mother is the titular sorceress Evangeline who seeks a position of security through the control of a wealthy man by marriage. She can brutally compel others to do her bidding, often forcing her daughter into complete, docile obedience whenever she does anything that annoys her. Their house has no doors, and Cordelia is allowed little privacy and fewer dreams of her own, frequently left isolated with no company beyond Falada, Evangeline beautiful, but deeply creepy horse/familiar.
The story is told through dual narratives Cordelia’s voice is balanced by that of the sardonic Hester, a crotchety spinster with a bum knee who brings a mature, sensible spirit to the story and serves as a stoic balance to the timid, socially awkward younger girl who has never been allowed to imagine a life of her own. Neither of these women is what anyone might call a traditional fantasy heroine.
Kingfisher’s male characters are also remarkably multifaceted and emotionally vulnerable in ways this genre is often loath to allow.
I was chuffed to determine a possible timeline to the story as the book Cordelia often refers to on how to behave is "the ladies book of etiquette and manual of politeness' was published in 1860 and a one part of the story references the concern that someone will develop 'Lockjaw'. Since a vaccine for Tetanus was first synthesised in 1890 and the inactive tetanus toxoid in 1924. The more effective adsorbed version of the vaccine, was developed in 1938, so can't be earlier than that.