Jane Austen, Magic and Chocolate Pots (a book review)

What happens when you mix Jane Austen and a little bit of the wizard world? You get Sorcery and Cecelia. Sorcery and Cecelia by Patricia Wrede and Caroline Stevermer is about two cousins,Cecelia  is left behind in the country while Kate, gets to experience her season in London. It starts out as any period piece, but you soon get the idea that there might be a little bit more to their version of England, including wizards, spells and enchanted chocolate pots.

The book is written as a series of letters back and forth, which is how the book was actually written, a series of letters back and forth between the authors. A kind of writing exercise. I was impressed with the way the two authors were able to weave together a complete story that has two main characters that aren’t even in the same city.

I’ll admit, I had a hard time with the beginning of this book. It was pretty slow and about 25 pages in, I gave up and picked up another book. After finishing two other books, I came back to it, and I am glad that I did. Although the beginning part of the book seems very much like the authors are trying to gain their footing (which they probably were because of the way it was written), the last two-thirds of the book are delightful and full of action.

Although the two main characters are never in the same room during the course of the book, many of the other characters travel back and forth between the city and country, allowing the main plot of the story to be the same. In true regency fashion there is a romance for each main character that seems doomed at many times in the book but wraps itself up neatly.

If you are looking for a fun, light read, this is a great choice, especially if you love a little Jane Austen.