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A Season of Monstrous Conceptions

ebook
0 of 1 copy available
Wait time: About 2 weeks
0 of 1 copy available
Wait time: About 2 weeks

World Fantasy Award nominee for Best Novella

Lina Rather's A Season of Monstrous Conceptions is an eldritch historical fantasy of midwifery, monstrosity, and the rending of the world, for fans of The Essex Serpent and The Death of Jane Lawrence.

"An entrancing and transformative queer tale of cosmic horror."—Caitlin Starling
"A blood sacrifice of a novel."Meg Elison
In 17th-century London, unnatural babies are being born, with eyes made for the dark and webbed digits suited to the sea.
Sarah Davis is intimately familiar with such strangeness—having hidden her uncanny nature all her life and fled to London under suspicious circumstances, Sarah starts over as a midwife's apprentice to a member of the illegal Worshipful Company of Midwives, hoping to carve out for herself an independent life. But with each new unnatural birth, the fear in London grows of the Devil's work.
When the wealthy Lady Wren hires her to see her through her pregnancy, Sarah quickly becomes a favorite of her husband, the famous architect Lord Christopher Wren, whose interest in the uncanny borders on obsession. Sarah soon finds herself caught in a web of magic and intrigue created by those who want to use her power for themselves, and whose pursuits threaten to unmake the earth itself.
At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

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    • Booklist

      September 8, 2023
      In this eldritch novella, widowed Sarah Davis is trying to remake herself as the apprentice to a midwife in London. Despite being treasured by her mentor for her connection to the Other Side, an uncanny mysterious realm that might be responsible for the recent strange, disfigured births around the city, Sarah isn't able to tap into the magical powers she should possess. All she wants is a stable place to stand, but when Mr. Wren, a scientist with a pregnant wife, suggests that he can put the world to rights with her knowledge and help, she's seduced by being taken seriously. Maybe now is her chance to change the world, truly. Or maybe, it's a new, and much bigger threat. Rather's novella is dark, suspenseful, and intensely addictive, difficult to put down thanks to its easy pacing and well-written dialogue. The uncanny story is compelling, particularly in how it plays with the devaluing of women's knowledge and the relationships between women when it comes to birth and children. Fans of Lovecraftian, queer fantasy will be drawn to this one.

      COPYRIGHT(2023) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

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  • English

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