Take a close look at the beautiful cover of A Pinch of Magic. Each of these items are important in the story - a rat, nesting dolls, a carpet bag, a clock, a tower and a small rowing boat. You can also see the moon and some crows. Watch this trailer which uses the cover to promote the book and you will see the third important magical object - a mirror.
I love this cover and the art looked familiar so I looked up Melissa Castrillon and discovered she designed the cover for Cartwheeling in Thunderstorms a book I loved. She has also done a new cover for The Kite Rider by Geraldine McCaughrean which is a book I must talk about on this blog - it blew me away when I read it years ago. This edition is due for release this month.
My Advanced Reader copy of A Pinch of Magic did not have a map - I love maps in books. I need to look for the 'real' copy of this book when it arrives in shops next week because I discovered, from Michelle Harrison's twitter posts, that she has included a map. She even drew it herself!
Even though there is a formula underlying the plot of this fantasy there are also plenty of twists and turns. On Betty's thirteenth birthday Granny shows the girls three magical objects. A carpet bag that allows you to fly to a different place, a set of nesting dolls which can be used for invisibility and a mirror to talk to someone a bit like a video link. The way the nesting dolls work is quite intriguing.
Betty, Charlie (Charlotte) and Fliss (Felicity) Widdershins live on the island of Crowstone. Before I go further widdershins, as Michelle Harrison explains in a letter to her readers, means to go in the wrong direction or anti clockwise, and it is considered unlucky.
Bad luck does seem to plague this family. Their mother is dead, their father is in jail, and the family curse means they are all trapped forever on this small island.
The islands nearby have disturbing names - Torment, Lament and Repent. The jail is on the island of Repent and it is dominated by a tall tower. Over a century ago a young witch jumped to her death from this tower. Over the course of this story our three girls, with their special gifts, will discover exactly how their lives are connected with the story of the young witch Sorsha Spellthorn and why crows also play an important and disturbing role.
Michelle Harrison creates an eerie atmosphere in her book. I felt as though I was deep in the fog that surrounds the islands, I was touching the jail walls and feeling the carving done by anguished prisoners, and I could smell the spilled beer in the Poacher's Pocket - the inn owned by the Widdershins family. The story of the girls, especially Betty, as they try to break the curse is interwoven with the long ago story of Sorsha. You need to be patient with this book but as with all good fairy tales, after all dangers faced by the sisters who are determined to set right the wrongs of the past, it is good to know "they all lived happily every after".
Here are some reviews with more plot details:
Read more about Michelle Harrison on her web site.
Some people were lucky when they were sent this book to review by Simon and Schuster. It came with one of three different ARC covers and a small bag of treasures.
I would follow A pinch of Magic with Snow and Rose by Emily Winfield Martin, Nightbird by Alice Hoffman, and A Snicker of Magic by Natalie Lloyd.
In this darkly believable world of magic and myth, Betty is a likeable, funny and feisty protagonist, full of courage and determination. This riveting tale of witchcraft, love and betrayal will have readers on the edge of their seats, as the sisters race against time to try to break the curse. BookTrust
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