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Searching... Ginter Park | Book | FICTION LISS | Searching... Unknown |
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Summary
Summary
Lucy Derrick is a young woman of good breeding and poor finances. After the death of her beloved father, she is forced to maintain a shabby dignity as the unwanted boarder of her tyrannical uncle, fending off marriage to a local mill owner. But just as she is on the cusp of accepting a life of misery, events take a stunning turn when a handsome stranger--the poet and notorious rake Lord Byron--arrives at her house, stricken by what seems to be a curse, and with a cryptic message for Lucy. Suddenly her unfortunate circumstances are transformed in ways at once astonishing and seemingly impossible.
With the world undergoing an industrial transformation, and with England on the cusp of revolution, Lucy is drawn into a dangerous conspiracy in which her life, and her country's future, are in the balance. Inexplicably finding herself at the center of cataclysmic events, Lucy is awakened to a world once unknown to her: where magic and mortals collide, and the forces of ancient nature and modern progress are at war for the soul of England . . . and the world. The key to victory may be connected to a cryptic volume whose powers of enchantment are unbounded. Now, challenged by ruthless enemies with ancient powers at their command, Lucy must harness newfound mystical skills to prevent catastrophe and preserve humanity's future. And enthralled by two exceptional men with designs on her heart, she must master her own desires to claim the destiny she deserves.
The Twelfth Enchantment is the most captivating work to date of a master literary conjurer.
Reviews (1)
Kirkus Review
In this change of literary direction, Liss mixes his considerable knowledge of 19th-century England and its industrialization period with a touch of literal magic.Sweet Lucy Derrick's past luck has been anything but good. Her father favored eldest daughter Emily, but when Emily died, it brought him and Lucy closer together. Then her father also passed away, leaving Lucy and Martha, the middle Derrick girl, without money or prospects. Martha selflessly married the disagreeable Mr. Buckles with the hopes that he would provide for both her and Lucy, but Buckles forced Lucy from the family home. That is how Lucy came to find herself under the roof of a dyspeptic uncle and his rotten-to-the-core retainer, Mrs. Quince. Lucy's only suitor, a mill owner named Olson, makes hosiery in a dark, dirty place where women, children and the elderly toil under untenable conditions for slender wages. Olson, who has no redeeming qualities other than being one of the few successful businessmen in town, plans to marry Lucy, even though Lucy wants no part of him, although she acknowledges her prospects are dim. A youthful indiscretion with a much older man has tainted her in the eyes of many, although the runaway lovers were intercepted before anything could happen. Alone, relatively friendless and without resources, Lucy is amazed when the beautiful and mysterious Mary Crawford befriends her, and even more astounded when she finds unsuspected talents for practicing the art of magic. Through Mary, Lucy discovers an innate ability to understand and cast spells, but at the same time, Lucy's life is caught up in other things she does not understand: the burgeoning Luddite movement, a visit from a handsome, well-known nobleman and mounting fear engendered by shadowy dark creatures that others cannot see and do not realize are there. Liss writes in the almost formal style of that period and faithfully conveys England's atmosphere during the early advent of mechanization, but the convoluted story moves at a tiresome pace.This odd mixture of industrial history and the occult world lacks charm and coherency, but it earns points for ambition and characterization.]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
