A brilliant and bewitching magical adventure that's creepy with fabulous gothic storytelling. The writing is sublime, and the characters are worthy of Dickens. You could say it's Oliver Twist meets Susannah Clarke, (Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell) and you wouldn't be far wrong.
It begins with a girl in London, 1860. Her family is exceptionally wealthy and she is exceptionally lonely. The closest thing to friendship Clara has experienced was a brief encounter with the two ragged children who work with the puppeteer in the park. For her birthday she asks to see them perform in the drawing room, and her father, to her surprise, allows it. The puppeteer, Grisini, kidnaps Clara and uses his sinister powers to imprison her body and mind in the form of a marionette to add to his theatre. His two young assistants realise what has happened, and all three children find themselves caught up in a terrible struggle for supernatural eminence between Grisini and a dying witch of extraordinary power.
'A wondefully twisty, creepy melodrama with three heroes to love, two villains to hate, and then at the end... it's totally satisfying' Nancy Werlin
A wonderfully twisty, creepy melodrama with three heroes to love, two villains to hate, and then at the end - but I won't tell, except to say it's totally satisfying Praise for Fire Spell. New York Times
Settle down; prepare for mesmerism: Laura Amy Schlitz is behind the curtain, ready to show us a story that has real magic lacing through it. Settle down; prepare for mesmerism: Laura Amy Schlitz is behind the curtain, ready to show us a story that has real magic lacing through it. -- Gregory Maguire New York Times bestselling author of WICKED
Author
About Laura Amy Schlitz
Laura Amy Schlitz is a librarian and storyteller in Baltimore County, USA. She has worked as a costumier, actress and playwright, and her plays for young people have been produced in theatres all over the county. She has been awarded the Newbery Medal (Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! Voices from a Medieval Village) and numerous other literary awards. She is a New York Times bestselling author.
