2019 fantasy. Cassandra Harwood has got her magical school for young
ladies, but many people would like it to fail.
And my goodness this can get quite harrowing (a repeated theme in
Burgis's writing and she does it very well). There are inspectors who
want the project closed down; but one of them is also an old enemy
with a personal grudge against Cassandra, and another is a friend
who's suddenly become an enemy for no obvious reason. Her husband was
sent away on government business on their wedding day, and they are
keeping him away, while working to get him thrown out of his position
simply because he's associated with her. And her supportive sister is
also being snubbed. All it would take is a leaking roof or a sudden
outbreak of mice… but in fact it's a sudden outbreak of elves, as
someone in the school has made a dark bargain, and it's not even clear
who that might be…
It's hard work, emotionally. I wouldn't want to read this when I was
feeling fragile, even though I trust Burgis to bring everything to a
happy ending. But my goodness it's done well; Cassandra is the
heroine, yes, but she is not perfect, and having spent much of her
life forging her own path in spite of all naysayers she finds it
difficult to see other solutions.
Burgis could doubtless find an audience by being light and fluffy, but
there's real tension here; it doesn't always sit comfortably with the
cosy Regency-ish setting, but when they work together (which is most
of the time) they're superb.