Sorcery & Cecelia by Patricia C. Wrede and Caroline Stevermer

Sorcery and Cecelia, Or The Enchanted Chocolate Pot is an epistolary regency fantasy novel that tells the story of two cousins, Kate and Cecelia. Kate and her sister Georgiana go to London for the season, while Cecelia remains in their home village in Exeter. The two cousins constantly exchange news through letters, and soon they find out that the strange happenings they both have been witnessing (involving, in London, an enchanted chocolate pot and a sorceress who has scores to settle with the Marquis of Schofield; and, in Exeter, a charm-bag under Cecelia’s brother’s bed, a young man named James Tarleton who is always peering from behind bushes, and a young woman named Dorothea with a fearsome mother) may, in fact, be part of the same magical plot.

I think the words “epistolary regency fantasy” tell you most of what you need to know about Sorcery and Cecelia. Let me say that again: Epistolary! Regency! Fantasy!. What’s not to love? I would compare this to Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell, but the tone of Sorcery and Cecelia is far lighter and (dare I say it?) wittier. It’s more like what I imagine the tone of a Georgette Heyer novel to be like – I must read her soon and find out if I’m right.

Patricia C. Wrede and Caroline Stevermer explain in the afterword that they wrote Sorcery and Cecelia as a letter game, which is to say, as actual letters that they exchanged over the course of six months with minimum plot planning beforehand. I could say that the fact that the ending feels slightly rushed is a result of this, but to be fair there are plenty of novels out there written conventionally whose endings feel slightly rushed. Also, the romances would have been sudden if it weren’t obvious from the beginning that this is the kind of book where there will be romance – as such, I have no complaints.

What does clearly show is how much fun the authors had writing the book, and it’s quite impossible not to have fun along with them. Kate and Cecelia are both sharp heroines who are easy to love, the humour is wonderful, and the whole book is an extravaganza of regency gowns, society balls, coming out, falling in love, learning magic, standing up for yourself, and doing all the things two smart young women who want to enjoy their freedom and youth would want to do.

My one problem with Cecelia and Kate is that they come across a bit like what Jodie so aptly christened excepto-girls. They’re often contrasted with two other young women, Kate’s sister Georgiana and Cecelia’s friend Dorothea, who are described as pretty but ‘goose-witted’. At one point Cecelia says:

Men are like that; they think all females are like Georgy and Dorothea—sweet, biddable creatures who aren’t worth explaining things to because they won’t understand above one word in seven.

At first glance this is all very well: Cecilia is saying, after all, that unlike what is generally expected, believed and encouraged, women are not all like that. And yes, a book can have characters who happen to be pretty and female and to need help getting out of trouble – as long as they’re not the only women in the story, which is not the case here because of Kate and Cecelia themselves. Unfortunately, the way this story frames these two other female characters makes them come across as the rule, while our two protagonists are the exception. I’ll refer you to Jodie’s post for the reasons why I find this problematic.

I don’t want this point to be the main thing you take away from this post, though: Sorcery and Cecelia was a delight, and excepto-girls aside, it was fine from a gender perspective. Kate and Cecelia are smart, competent, and a joy to spent time with. They occasionally struggle with the limitation of what young women are or aren’t supposed to do or be in their society, but mostly they get their own way. And when I remember the relative freedom of a character like Emma Woodhouse, this doesn’t strike me as anachronistic or unrealistic at all.

Sorcery and Cecelia left me in the mood for more Regency fantasy (or just more Regency books, period). I know Wrede and Stevermer have written two sequels, but if you have any further recommendations, I would really love to hear them.

Other opinions:
A Book a Week
Here, There and Everywhere
Working Title
Book Nut

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