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Sorcery and Cecelia or the Enchanted Chocolate Pot
by Patricia C. Wrede and Caroline Stevermer
Full title: Sorcery and Cecelia or The Enchanted Chocolate Pot: Being the Correspondence of Two Young Ladies of Quality Regarding Various Magical Scandals in London and the Country.
Just don’t mention the incident with the goat. Not that the reader could talk about the goat, because that little anecdote is never explained. Barring that, Sorcery and Cecelia or The Enchanted Chocolate Pot is an interesting experiment in writing.
The book is the result of a writing exercise that author Caroline Stevermer introduced to author Patricia C. Wrede. The practice is called either the Letter Game, Persona Letters or Ghost Letters. It was originally created as an acting exercise where people would write letters back and forth in character. The game has no rules, except that the players must never reveal the plot to one another. Whoever sends the first letter is responsible for choosing a setting and defining his or her character.
Wrede began the game, and decided to set the story in England just after the Napoleonic Wars, in an alternate universe where magic really works. She took on the personality of Cecelia (Cecy), while Stevermer became Cecy’s cousin Katherine (Kate). After six months of letter writing, the two authors sat down with the collected works and decided that the letters would make an interesting book.
The reader is tossed immediately into the story, with the opening line, “Dear Kate, It is dreadfully flat here since you’ve been gone.” And, from that moment on, the reader has to accept what is going on, rather than overanalyze it.
Cecelia looks for trouble (it is mildly suggested that the incident with the goat was her idea) and has excellent taste in fashion and an eye for color. Meanwhile, Katherine has a predisposition for shedding hairpins, getting lost and suffering tragic clumsiness. Both girls favor the expression, “it is outside of enough,” and often incorporate colloquialisms such as “bamming” (telling a tall tale) in their speech.
The authors’ different styles provide a contrast in the characters, but are similar enough that the story doesn’t seem as if it were woven by two different people. The story that unfolds is rich and vibrant and, in true magical style, ends happily ever after.
Title: Sorcery and Cecelia or the Enchanted Chocolate Pot
Author: Patricia C. Wrede and Caroline Stevermer
Publisher: Magic Carpet Books
ISBN: 015205300X
Review written by: Tracy Elledge
Reviewer's Rating:9.5
Reader's Rating: 0
Reader's Votes: 0
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