A Sorceress Comes to Call is another brilliant novel from T Kingfisher that explores the human consequences of fairy tale ideas that we take for granted. In this story the idea is: what would it actually be like to have a calculating sorceress for a mother who can take over your body and make you fully obedient to her will?
Cordelia is 14 and a half years old, and doors are not allowed to be closed in the house she has grown up in. Her mother, Evangeline, says that there are no secrets in their house, so why would she need to close a door? When someone in their small town mysteriously dies, Evangeline packs them up and they soon become guests at the grand house of a rich older man, the Squire, whom Evangeline has set her sights on marrying. Most unexpected for both of them is that the Squire has a clever sister, Hester, who can soon see that something is not right with Cordelia and her mother.
As Evangeline gets her claws into the Squire, Cordelia and Hester each wonder how they can avert this terrifying turn of events, where Evangeline seems to hold all the cards. Can they grow to trust each other enough to team up against her? Or will Evangeline marry and then dispatch the Squire so that she can live comfortably again, as they suspect she has done to her “benefactors” in the past?
The story switches between Cordelia’s and Hester’s points of view, perfectly building tension as they both realise that the Squire – and they themselves – are in terrible danger from Evangeline’s violent scheming. Cordelia has been under the thumb of her cruel, calculating mother her whole life and has no idea how to do anything but obey her, let alone fight against her.
Hester is no fool about the ways of scheming social climbers, but has no idea how to stop her hapless brother from falling into the embrace of a beautiful, charming woman who seems to have unnatural powers over those around her. In drawing rooms, parlours and draughty tower rooms, Cordelia slowly learns that she does have the strength to fight back against her mother, and Hester comes to realise that she cannot go up against such a force alone.
Kingfisher has created another excellent story that explores the very human consequences of fairy tale-inspired magic, focusing on two characters who would otherwise be in the background of a grand tale about an evil sorceress. The slowly growing relationship between young teen Cordelia and fiercely independent middle-aged Hester is what drives the story, as well as the brilliant peripheral characters who join them when Hester calls for back-up.
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Excellent characterisation and a wonderfully tense storyline will keep readers on the edge of their seats waiting to see what will happen. Kingfisher keeps the tension at a slow burn, while upping the intrigue at every opportunity, and the 400 pages of this book seem to disappear as everything heads towards a terrifying conclusion.
A Sorceress Comes to Call, T Kingfisher
Publisher: Titan Books
ISBN: 9781835411513
Format: Paperback
Pages: 400pp
Publication date: 6 August 2024
RRP: $24.99
