In All Uncertain Terms

A Sorceress Comes to Call is a novel by T. Kingfisher, inspired by the fairy tale The Goose Girl by brothers Grimm, though it bears little resemblance to the original story. It is not something I would typically choose to read, but is the current focus of a local book club in which I am participating.

The narrative alternates perspectives between fourteen-year-old Cordelia and fifty-something Hester. Cordelia is abused, controlled, bullied, and manipulated by her magic-wielding mother, Evangeline. She is frightened of her and secretly hates her, and that is virtually all the reader learns about Cordelia in the entire novel, which is more than three hundred pages long. Given her circumstances, it makes sense that Cordelia would be terribly scared and hesitant, but it’s hard to relate to or care about a character one never really gets to know at all. The story could explore the conflicted feelings of an abuse victim between hating and wanting to stop the abuser, while also feeling some loyalty and affection for them (since, in this case, the abuser is the victim’s mother), but sadly, it does not. Cordelia’s feelings are remarkably one-note.

From my perspective, Hester has, by far, the more compelling point of view. She is sister to a wealthy lord, single and far past her prime, and pining for a former lover whom she herself chose not to marry. Witty, cynical, and kind, she develops a bond with Cordelia, and conspires with her to overthrow Evangeline. Hester’s relationship with her old flame, Lord Evermore, was the most interesting part of the story for me, as well as a fair number of Goodreads reviewers. A decade earlier, they had considered marriage, but she declined for murky reasons that seem to have something to do with wanting to maintain her independence and individuality. At the end of the story, there is little to no resolution. They neither come to a compromise that will allow an arrangement in which Hester gets to maintain her perceived independence, nor does she learn to loosen her grip on it, but instead, they simply decide to live together for a few years, without marrying, which is little more commitment than what was already present between them.

Evangeline, the only villain, has astonishingly boring and weak motives. They are questioned in the story, but not explored, and ultimately, the other characters come to the rather straightforward and boring conclusion that she just wants to be wealthy. While perhaps a common and realistic desire for many a “bad guy,” the total lack of complexity or nuance to her character and drive make the writing feel uninspired, or even lazy.

Some Goodreads users complained that they were intrigued for the entire novel, until the ending, which they found underwhelming. Unfortunately for me, I was not really interested until the story was almost over, and I was still disappointed by the conclusion. Another criticism I read was that the dialogue read like an American’s feeble attempt at historical British nobility’s speech. Even though I am an American myself, and my only exposure to the terminology used by the serving and ruling class in England is Downton Abbey and similar media, it stuck out to me as well. I couldn’t tell you what exactly was wrong, but much of the conversation did feel off.

Regardless of which genre of literature one might find most fitting into which to categorize this book (fantasy, horror, or romance), for me, it falls flat. The world-building is, in generous terms, lacking. To be more accurate, it is nearly nonexistent. It was presented to me as a “light horror” story, but, while there is some death and a definite villain, I found it less frightening than any other fantasy novel I’ve read, and probably many other general fiction tales. The singular romance in the story, while not the main plot line, was actually the most compelling narrative for me. However, in the end, it was left open-ended, and not far from the same place it began.

The retelling of fairy tales is a category of media I typically love; The School for Good and Evil series is a childhood and teenage favorite of mine, and my husband and I are currently enjoying Dimension 20: Neverafter, so I had high hopes for A Sorceress Comes to Call. Unfortunately, it was perhaps the most “meh” book I have ever read. It was not awful, but it was a chore more than a pleasure to read it, and I probably will not recommend it to anyone I know. Nevertheless, it does have many five-star reviews, so clearly many people loved it. It was just not for me.