I read my first T Kingfisher! A Sorceress Comes to Call.

Synopsis

A dark retelling of the Brothers Grimm’s Goose Girl, rife with secrets, murder, and forbidden magic

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.

Audiobook review

4,5 stars

A sorceress Comes to Call is a Gothic vicious and atmospheric tale. A sorcerer is determined to climb the social ladder and it’s up to her shy and abused daughter to stop her with the aid of an old, but smart woman.

Let’s talk about the trope .

Evangeline is a sorcerer whose dream is to become rich whatever the cost and whomever she has to kill . For years she has abused her daughter Cordelia, sometimes controlling  her like a puppet and she now is determined to find a rich husband to marry. The next step is to find another husband for her 14 years old daughter. Evangeline has set her eyes on the squire Samuel. After a ruthless change to their former lives,  they are headed to his home.. 

What will follow is a gripping and horrifying story were people will band together to stop Evangeline’s machination.

The story is told from a double point of view .

The first one is from Cordelia .

Cordelia is terrorized of her mother who has controlled her all her life . T Kingfisher wrote very realistically of someone so traumatized by years of abuse that she became subservient and despondent. Always afraid of doing or saying the wrong thing for fear of repercussion. But when Cordelia witnesses the goodness of the squire ,of his sister, Hesther and their friends , she doesn’t want anything, bad to happen to them.

She will have to find the strength to fight her fear if she hopes to save these people she has just come to love .

Cordelia is easy to love, even if you can be disappointed with her as she’s not the shiny courageous female character we get in many fantasy stories . She is shy, meek, afraid, but it fits the story very well due to her life of trauma. A survivor at heart, she will need a long time to heal and hopefully bloom.

The second point of view is Hesther .

She is the Squire’s sister. 51 year old now with hurting knees, creaking joints and a six sense warning her doom has come calling.

Never would have she imagined that Evangeline was a dangerous sorcerer .

Now it’s up to Hesther, Cordelia and Hesther‘s friend  Imogene and Richard, to find a way to protect the squire and to thwart Evangeline’s plans .

I loved Hesther. She’s a no nonsense woman, who would do anything to protect her beloved brother, bad knees and old body be damned!

Her allies, the card playing Imogene, her intrinsically good old lover Richard and the dazzling Penelope made for excellent side characters and astute allies. 

I read the story with all along an impending sense of doom . It was my first T kingfisher story and it was perfect for the spooky season. Filled with quaint characters, found family trope, lots of drama and black magic. It would please every lovers of dark stories.

Thanks for reading.

Sophie