A Sorceress Comes to Call by T. Kingfisher
Cordelia knows her mother is unusual. Their house doesn’t have any doors between rooms, and her mother doesn't allow Cordelia to have a single friend—unless you count Falada, her mother's beautiful white horse. The only time Cordelia feels truly free is on her daily rides with him. But more than simple eccentricity sets her mother apart. Other mothers don’t force their daughters to be silent and motionless for hours, sometimes days, on end. Other mothers aren’t sorcerers.
After a suspicious death in their small town, Cordelia’s mother insists they leave in the middle of the night, riding away on Falada’s sturdy back, leaving behind all Cordelia has ever known. They arrive at the remote country manor of a wealthy older man, the Squire, and his unwed sister, Hester. Cordelia’s mother intends to lure the Squire into marriage, and Cordelia knows this can only be bad news for the bumbling gentleman and his kind, intelligent sister.
Hester sees the way Cordelia shrinks away from her mother, how the young girl sits eerily still at dinner every night. Hester knows that to save her brother from bewitchment and to rescue the terrified Cordelia, she will have to face down a wicked witch of the worst kind.
Review: This book was so unique and different than anything else I have read in a long time. It was dark and haunting and absolutely reads like a grown-up fairy tale. I felt such horror for Cordelia, who is an innocent pawn in her mother's dark schemes. From early in childhood, Cordelia has been forced by her mother's dark magic to obey. For hours her mother controls the movements - or worse, absolute lack of movement - over her body. Everything changes when her mother takes her to a remote country home, where she hopes to lure the squire into marriage.
Told in alternating sections between Cordelia and the squire's spinster sister Hester, this was beautifully done on audio. This felt like such a unique premise even beyond the sorcery aspect of the book, because the two main characters are a young girl and an aging spinster. These two categories of women have historically been the most powerless of all and that is dramatically conveyed in this book as they attempt to thwart the evil machinations of Cordelia's mother with little resources to call on. The two perspectives were voiced by different narrators in this dual narration, and I loved the contrast between Cordelia's innocent voice and the warm, mature tone of Hester's character.
I loved Hester's character. She has a sixth sense about her and immediately knows that Evangeline is a threat to her and her brother. She is such a warm and inviting presence. Many would have written off Cordelia as well, but she has a deep empathy and is a perceptive judge of character. I especially loved the portrayal of love between older characters in this book thanks to Hester!
The first half or so of this book felt haunting and eerie. But in the second half, it shifted to more of a macabre, almost farcical tone. I'm trying not to give any spoilers but there is a headless animal running around terrorizing everyone!! Some aspects of the (deceased) voice speaking to Cordelia in her head felt comical at times as well. It still felt like a true horror story, but just with hints of the absurd tossed in.
Stars: 4
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