A Sorceress Comes to Call

Starred review from May 1, 2024

Cordelia's mother is an evil, murderous, self-centered sorceress who has decided to entrap a rich squire and set them up in style so that Cordelia can trap an even richer husband with her magic. But the sorceress has picked the wrong mark, and it will be her downfall. It's not the squire she's up against--it's his sister. Hester sees right through the sorceress, with some surprising assistance from an increasingly desperate Cordelia. Together, they marshal their forces in the hopes of defeating the sorceress and winning freedom. This is another one of Kingfisher's marvelous works (like the Hugo-winning Nettle & Bone) that takes elements of fairy tales, myths, and legends and blends them into a story that feels both familiar and new at the same time while subtly weaving a novel where women play the parts that men traditionally filled, and men serve as helpmeets, sidekicks, and love interests. Even better, the middle-aged heroine both saves the day and gets her happily-ever-after. VERDICT Highly recommended for readers who enjoy reimagined legends.--Marlene Harris

Copyright 2024 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from May 20, 2024
With this riff on the Brothers Grimm’s “The Goose Girl,” set in a fantasy world inspired by Regency romances, Hugo Award winner Kingfisher (Nettle & Bone) continues her hot streak of deeply compassionate, thrilling, and often laugh-out-loud fairy tale retellings. Cordelia, 14, grows up in a house without closed doors. Her mother, Evangeline, is a dangerous enchantress who regularly compels her into total obedience. The first time Cordelia’s allowed some privacy is when Evangeline moves them into the home of her suitor, Squire Samuel Chatham—a home Evangeline means to seize and remake to her specifications by whatever means necessary. The Squire’s sister, Lady Hester, feels an awful presentiment of doom and is on the defensive around Evangeline, but only Cordelia knows the true, murderous extent of her mother’s powers. Can Cordelia speak up against a mother who controls her so completely? Would Hester even believe her if she did? The dual narrators—terrified fish-out-of-water Cordelia and tenaciously sensible Hester—are nuanced, distinctive, and frequently funny. Kingfisher’s remarkable skill for crafting scene-stealing secondary characters is also on full display in ruthless cardsharp Imogen Strauss, über-competent butler Willard, merry widow Penelope Green, and the mysteriously magical horse Falada. Expertly blending humor with folkloric horror, this incredibly satisfying fantasy will delight Kingfisher’s fans and newcomers alike.

Starred review from July 1, 2024
Kingfisher's newest novel (after What Feasts at Night, 2024) melds a fairy-tale retelling of ""The Goose Girl"" with a bit of Regency-style romance. Like the Brothers Grimm fable, there are geese, a magical horse named Falada, and a young girl abused by her caretaker. But the girl is not a princess, nor does she tend any geese. Her mother, Evangaline, is an avaricious sorcerer who will do anything to get what she wants--including commit murder. Unfortunately, 14-year-old Cordelia has always been subject to her mother's insidious control. By using sorcery, Evangeline can make her child's body obedient to her every wish, controlling everything Cordelia says and does. When her current benefactor spurns her, Evangeline moves them to another town and sets out to seduce an elderly, wealthy Squire. What she had not planned on was the Squire's geese-breeding spinster sister, Hester, who is able to sense the approach of evil. When Cordelia is instructed to distract Hester, she begins to grow closer to this new family that has so readily accepted her. But she is terrified of what will happen if her mother's scheme fails. Dark fantasy fans will be enraptured by the descriptive narrative and well-developed characters.

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