A Sorceress Comes to Call by T. Kingfisher
Publication Date: August 6, 2024
Summary from NetGalley:
Cordelia knows her mother is . . . unusual. Their house doesn’t have any doors between rooms—there are no secrets in this house—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 evil sorcerers.
When her mother unexpectedly moves them into the manor home of a wealthy older Squire and his kind but keen-eyed sister, Hester, Cordelia knows this welcoming pair are to be her mother’s next victims. But Cordelia feels at home for the very first time among these people, and as her mother’s plans darken, she must decide how to face the woman who raised her to save the people who have become like family.
ARC provided by Tor Books via Netgalley for an honest review.
Confession:
I did truly enjoy this story, but it also seemed to be missing a little something to make me fall in love with it. It does have great characters and the story was basically good, but it was a bit slow and sluggish in the telling which made it hard to get invested in the story. I am also a bit confused on how this was a retelling of The Goose Girl? Except for the horse, there really is no connection to the old fairy tale, which was a little disappointing. Oh, and there is a lot of talk about goose breeding and the geese do try to protect everyone from the horse.
The story is told through two points of view, and I loved both of these characters. Cordelia is the sorceress’s daughter and has lived a sheltered and very abused life. But somehow she manages to learn right from wrong and knows that her life is different from normal. She is very sweet and really comes into her own once she goes to live with the Squire and his sister. Hester, our other main character, is the Squire’s 50 year old sister and I just loved her. She is smart, and is ready to do anything to protect her brother. She is also a self determined woman, and although she is in love with her friend and lover Richard, she didn’t want to be encumbered by marriage. She is also accepting of Cordelia and wants to help her escape her mother.
There are many secondary characters, from friends of Hester and her brother, to the servants that all deserve a shout out. I loved them all and wanted them all to come out alright in the end. I especially loved Cordelia’s maid, Alice, who immediately understood that something was seriously wrong and wanted to help her so much. Richard was also a favorite, and I loved how he just took things to task to help solve the puzzle of how to stop Evangeline.
My main issue with the story was the draggy nature of the narrative. Nothing seems to really happen throughout most of the story, with the action all taking place in the last 50 or so pages. Most of the time the characters just seemed to be wringing their hands and lamenting that something needed to be done, but no knows what. It got a bit boring to be honest. But the characters certainly make up for that. The writing of course was also beautiful and well done. I also loved the witty banter between some of the characters.
One other small thing that annoyed me a bit was Hester’s knee. She had a bad knee, although it is never explained why. It was also constantly talked about and mentioned in the story almost to the point where it slowed the narrative even more. I kept expecting there to be a point to it, but there never was a time when it became important to the story.
If you are a fan of T. Kingfisher’s work, you will probably enjoy this too. Although if you are looking for a retelling of the Goose Girl this isn’t it. I also think newcomers to her work will really like this one too. It has a lot going for it, I just wished it had moved a little bit faster.
Confessions of a Serial Reader 
A great review. I have to say that I don’t the story of the Goose girl that well so probably wouldn’t know if it was a good retelling or not. The fact that it drags for a lot of the novel is more of a put off. I will probably pick it up if I see it in the library but I don’t think I’ll bother buying a copy.
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I didn’t know it that well, but looked it up about half way through. I was kind of curious to see how it was being reimagined. If you do end up picking it up I hope you enjoy it.
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