It is April 1837, and 17-year-old twins Persephone and Penelope Leland are preparing for their debut into society. Pen is very much looking forward to the balls, the gossip, the flirting and the CLOTHES. Persy, who is much more shy and studious, is not. She's terrified that she'll make a fool of herself, and newly discovered feelings about a childhood playmate only make her more nervous.
If it were up to her, Persy would much rather be a teacher like their beloved governess, Ally. But that isn't what viscounts' daughters do.
Off they go to London. But once there, Ally disappears. The girls know that she's been kidnapped, but they can't tell their parents -- if they did, they'd be forced to reveal the truth: That they are witches, and that for the last ten years, Ally has secretly taught them to use and control their magic. But magical talent is not something to be advertised -- the last execution for witchcraft occurred less than a hundred years ago. So the girls have to prepare for their presentation at court, survive the season, conduct a secret investigation into Ally's disappearance AND, hopefully, rescue her.
My favorite line:
Lucky Pen, to have been able to sit with an acquaintance on her first foray into society, while she'd had to sit with the Giant Yellow Brocaded Sausage.
Bewitching Season has romance, intrigue, humor and magic -- and pretty much everything else the cover and description suggest. It's light, fun, and requires no work on the part of the reader. There weren't really any surprises, but sometimes that works. In this case, I felt it did -- for me, it turned out to be a nice little comfort read.
A good pick for young fans of the Sorcery and Cecelia series, though the language in that series was richer and the characters had much more depth. While the loose ends are tied up at the end, the author has certainly left room for a sequel -- and I will definitely welcome it.
Sounds like fun! I'll have to check it out. :-)
Posted by: Em | 21 May 2008 at 07:55 PM