The Cecelia and Kate Novels
By Patricia C. Wrede & Caroline Stevermer
- Release Date: 2014-11-18
- Genre: Fantasy for Young Adults
Description
A trio of bewitching novels featuring devoted cousins who must juggle their magical powers with their duties as ladies in Regency-era England.
Enter Regency-era England—and a world in which magical mayhem and high society go hand in hand—with three novels featuring cousins Cecelia and Kate.
In Sorcery & Cecelia, the two cousins have been inseparable since girlhood. But in 1817, Kate goes to London to make her debut into English society, leaving Cecelia behind to fight boredom in her small country town. While visiting the Royal College of Wizards, Kate stumbles on a plot to destroy a beloved sorcerer—and only Cecelia can help her save him.
In The Grand Tour, Cecelia and Kate, along with their husbands, are inaugurating married life with a trip to the Continent. When a mysterious woman in Calais gives Cecelia a package intended for Kate’s mother-in-law, however, the two young wives realize they must spend their honeymoons preventing an emperor-in-exile named Napoleon from reclaiming the French crown.
In The Mislaid Magician, it is 1828 and the cousins are now society matrons. The steam engine is announcing its arrival and the shaking of the locomotives begins to disrupt England’s ancient, underground magical ley lines. When the disappearance of a foreign diplomat threatens to become an international incident, Cecelia departs to fight for the future of magic—leaving Kate to care for a gaggle of disobedient, spell-casting tots.
Blending history, romance, and magic, these charming novels from the author of the Enchanted Forest Chronicles will delight anyone who loves Harry Potter or Susannah Clarke’s Jonathan Strange & Mr Norell.
“Will appeal to fantasy readers who appreciate something more sophisticated than Harry Potter-style magic.” —School Library Journal on The Grand Tour
“Wrede and Stevermer have hit their stride, and readers will no doubt hope that Kate and Cecy’s tour doesn’t end here.” —The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books on The Grand Tour
“A satisfying blend of magic, mystery, humor, and romance.” —Booklist on The Grand Tour
For more than twenty years, Patricia C. Wrede (b. 1953) has expanded the boundaries of young-adult fantasy writing. Her first novel, Shadow Magic (1982), introduced Lyra, a magical world in which she set four more novels. Her other series include the Enchanted Forest Chronicles; the Cecelia and Kate novels, co-written with Caroline Stevermer; the Mairelon books, which take place in Regency England; and the Old-West Frontier Magic series. Wrede lives and works in Minnesota.
Reviews
Utterly delightful, wish there were more!
5By maniles2000The authors deftly and delightfully weave together their respective characters and writing styles to create an alternate Regency period that is both engaging and just realistic enough to be creditable. The books are very humorous, suspenseful and with enough twists to keep the reader interested. I sincerely wish these ladies had continued with the series. Highly recommended for an enjoyable read.Tired of the usual cosy mysteries?
5By gnarlyis3These books are written completely as letters with no narrator commentary. What is important to the author gets included and if there is a period where no letters are written there is often only a quick update before getting on with current topics. It is a very antiquarian method that may or may not charm you. Though the spelling and language is up to date with our time, the feeling of the letters is very old-world. It is a time were letters take the place of phone calls and are important as tools for staying connected over long distances. The paranormal aspects of the story/world are written in so casually that in the beginning I almost missed that they were magical. As the letters are written by various writers, so do the styles and the import that the paranormal is to the mystery. To these authors the magic is so ingrained in the world as to be an obvious part of it though it pertains more to some lives than others. If you like a good cosy mystery where romance is romantic and not a torrid sex-filled obsession this may be a good set to try out.
