This was a beautiful, layered story set in the gorgeous historic Cornwall of folktales and wise women.
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Kensa and her younger sister stumble upon the dying form of a seamonster on the Cornish coast one night, and as a result of this interaction, Kensa’s fate as an apprentice to the local wise woman is sealed. She learns the Old Ways but also finds that there are more secrets than she will ever know, but her teacher, Isolde, is failing. In panic, she turns to a vengeful seagod to save her, but things don’t go as she hoped.
I loved the setting of this tale and the folkloric background. It’s historical fiction with a touch of fantasy that’s so well-written that you can believe it’s true – just the way most myths are. It sits somewhere between ancient storytelling and fairytale.
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The only issue I had was that it took a while for the story to come into itself. For a while, it felt like we were just going slowly follow the path of Kensa’s life while she felt like an imposter in her role. When the story kicked off, it all came together nicely, but it felt a bit rambling for a while. Fortunately the setting and the storytelling kept me invested through this slower start, and it paid off well enough.
There were some aspects of the characterisation that threw me a little. I found Kensa and her sister’s relationship hard to understand – they would save each other but also kind of hated each other. I suppose maybe that how some sisterly relationships are, but there seemed to be little that they really had issues with, and considering that they shared a small bed until Kensa went off to become a wise woman, I can’t see how they could easily pull so far apart, but also love each other so much. Maybe just very different to my relationship with my sister!
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I loved learning more about Isolde and the Old Ways, the beliefs, the techniques, and how it wasn’t necessarily always magic at the end of the day, but sometimes just being there for people. I loved that the mysterious element of witchcraft sat so tenuously alongside everyday life and alongside the church.
It was a really good read, I would definitely pick up more by the author.
Thank you to Netgalley, the author and the publishers for an ARC of this book.
