The Twelfth Enchantment: A Novel [Deckle Edge] [Hardcover]

David Liss (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 9, 2011

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.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

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Guest Reviewer: Katherine Howe on The Twelfth Enchantment

Katherine Howe is the New York Times bestselling author of The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane and The Lost Book of Salem. She lives in northern Massachusetts with her husband, dog, and a terrifying phalanx of tomato plants.

What makes a witch? Today a witch is usually a frightening woman dressed in a pointy hat. But for most of European history, magic occurred along a continuum of moral and spiritual value, in which conviction and execution as a witch was only the farthest extreme. In fact, everyday people routinely relied on folk magic to solve all sorts of commonplace problems that couldn't be addressed by other legal, medical, or religious means. All that was required was a bit of cunning.

Cunning folk, as they were known in England, offered occult services, such as placing charms and lifting curses, usually for a fee. The word “cunning” has a double connotation in English – it means clever and capable on the one hand, but it also means sneaky and dubious. As such, men and women who were skilled in folk magical arts tended to have mixed reputations; they served an important role in English village society, but they were also regarded with suspicion.

This fascinating nether world weaves through David Liss's intoxicating new novel, The Twelfth Enchantment. Set in Regency England, The Twelfth Enchantment tells the story of Lucy Derrick, a vivacious heroine in the tradition of Jane Austen's Elizabeth Bennett, compelled by her loss of fortune after her father's death into a marriage of convenience to save herself from destitution. On the eve of her engagement, a handsome stranger appears on her doorstep, proclaiming that she must “gather the leaves,” and above all, must not marry her betrothed. He then collapses into a fit, vomiting pins, which the local doctor is powerless to explain.

The stranger's appearance plunges Lucy into an adventure that will remake our notion of what magic is, and what it does. To unravel the stranger's mysterious pronouncement, Lucy must venture deep into her own past, and into the farthest realms of English imagination, of charms and changelings, of fairies and witches, as David Liss spins a modern fairy tale that is equal parts Pride and Prejudice and The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane. Braving danger and duplicity, Lucy Derrick must uncover untold depths of fortitude to save her family, and herself, from a horrifying truth that could shake England to its very foundations. It takes a cunning novelist, indeed, to tell a story as gripping – as magical – as The Twelfth Enchantment.

Review

Praise for Twelfth Enchantment

"David Liss takes readers on a light-hearted romp through Regency England in The Twelfth Enchantment. With an adroit mix of fact and fantasy, Liss casts heroine Lucy Derrick into a world of industrializing mill towns, mysterious enchantments, ghostly dogs, undead fairies, Luddites, and even Lord Byron and his legions of lovesick women. Charged with gathering the scattered pages of an alchemical manuscript, Lucy’s adventures teach her that appearances can be deceptive—and delightfully so. Liss’s deft touch with historical subject matter and his ability to craft tremendously appealing characters makes this a thoroughly enjoyable, satisfying read."
--Deborah Harkness, author of A Discovery of Witches



PRAISE FOR DAVID LISS
 
The Devil’s Company
 
“Accomplished, atmospheric and thoughtful.”—The Washington Post
 
The Whiskey Rebels
 
“Smart, page-turning fun.”—St. Petersburg Times
 
The Ethical Assassin
 
“[A] page-turning thriller . . . a thought-provoking and highly enjoyable yarn.”—Baltimore Sun
 
A Spectacle of Corruption
 
“[A] wonderful book . . . easily one of the year’s best.”—The Boston Globe
 
The Coffee Trader
 
“Unusual and diverting . . . Sometimes, as the book demonstrates with a nice twist, sincerity can be the greatest means of deception.”—The New York Times Book Review
 
A Conspiracy of Paper
 
“Tremendously smart, assured, and entertaining.”—Newsweek

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 416 pages
• Publisher: Random House; First Edition edition (August 9, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1400068967
• ISBN-13: 978-1400068968
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 1.4 x 9.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (42 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #84,574 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

David Liss is the author six novels, most recently The Devil's Company. He has five previous bestselling novel: A Conspiracy of Paper, winner of the 2000 Edgar Award for Best First Novel, The Coffee Trader, A Spectacle of Corruption, The Ethical Assassin and The Whiskey Rebels. In 2008, at the United Nations Convention against Corruption in Bali, Indonesia, he was named an Artist for Integrity by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime. No one is really sure why he should receive this honor or what it means, but it very possibly makes him the Bono of historical fiction. David Liss's novels have been translated into more than two dozen languages. He lives in San Antonio with his wife and children. Visist his web site at www.davidliss.com.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars What a letdown!, September 1, 2011

By 

D. Campbell (Ithaca, NY USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Twelfth Enchantment: A Novel (Hardcover)

I've been hooked on David Liss since I read the first page of "A Conspiracy of Paper" a couple of years ago. His novels are funny and intricately constructed. I pre-ordered this on the strength of past experience. I was sorely disappointed.

It's not that it's fantasy about the occult: I can suspend disbelief to read about Sookie Stackhouse and am fanatic about Harry Potter. But this book was just plain silly. And not in a good way. I can only believe that Mr. Liss decided to try his hand at occult/fantasy just for a lark.

Lucy Derrick is straight out of Jane Austen, or maybe Dickens, which is fine. But the situations and characters are simultaneously preposterous and predictable. Our heroine, an impoverished young woman of undeserved questionable repute, is for some reason beset by all manner nefarious ill-wishers, living and undead. She lives with a distant uncle who wants to marry her off to a banal mill owner troubled by Luddites. There's no clear motivation for any of the characters to act or react the way they do, except for the fact that they're being controlled by (potential SPOILER) an evil fairy(!) who is Lucy's nemesis, unbeknownst to Lucy. She seems to have some friends, but perhaps they have been bewitched, perhaps not. None of it makes any sense.

Lord Byron (seriously!) is a major player, as is William Blake. In Mr. Liss's other fiction, historical characters make appearances that, while fictional, are not impossible to accept. For example, Alexander Hamilton appears in "The Whiskey Rebels" in a capacity that is reasonable. For the politically-driven plot to advance, Hamilton had to make an appearance. Historical fiction in general uses real people in imagined stories. In "The Twelfth Enchantment", there's no reason why the bewitched potential hero has to be a fictionalized Lord Byron, or why a fictionalized William Blake has to show up. Instead of driving the plot, they bring the reader up short. The reader has to actively disassociate everything he or she knows about Byron or Blake to get back into the story.

"The Twelfth Enchantment" has made me reconsider pre-ordering David Liss's books on the strength of his authorship. Next time I'll wait and see what other reviewers say, and hope that he's back to his usual form.

14 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Magical I Guess, August 16, 2011

By 

William Skipper "Pat" (City of Angels) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Twelfth Enchantment: A Novel (Kindle Edition)

Perhaps I should recuse myself from reviewing this book, for as a child I found the Hobbit impenetrable. I am indifferent to the world of Harry Potter. The popular vampire books couldn't possibly interest me less.

But I am a very big fan of David Liss's works.

THE TWELFTH ENCHANTMENT starts out with great promise. It's 1812, England. Lucy Derrick is a strong heroine--sort of Jane Austen's next door neighbor, if you will. She's been orphaned, living in penury with a dreadful dreadful uncle and an evil caretaker and is about to be married off to a colorless dolt of a mill owner.

Then Lord Byron (yes, THE Lord Byron) appears at her door. He's apparently suffering under some kind of curse (vomiting pins, no less).

What follows is a very strange adventure into the world of magic, fairies, changelings, immortals, ghosts, zombies and lord knows what else.

It's readable, mainly due to the wonderful historical details that are the hallmark of Liss's books. Lucy Derrick, as I said, is a very strong heroine. The writing itself is gorgeous in places.

However, in the final analysis, magic isn't my bag. I got through it but it was a chore at times.

13 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Very disappointing, August 18, 2011

By 

reader (atlanta ga) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Twelfth Enchantment: A Novel (Hardcover)

I am a huge fan of David Liss' books starting from the wonderful "A Conspiracy of Paper". He has departed significantly from his previous historical fiction in this book, which blends period detail with romance and the supernatural. The heroine in this work has a gift for magic, which drives the remainder of the story. Fairies, witches, and even a Golum appear and Liss' prior use of historical period characters in a story here employs Lord Byron as someone who is intertwined with the occult and is eventually reincarnated as a fairy, and William Blake as a feeble communicator with ghosts. While I love his writing skills, I found this book to require too much suspension of disbelief to be credible, and Liss' foray into popular occult disappointing and beneath him. I do not doubt he will sell many copies, based on our culture's fascination with all things supernatural. However, it is a poor trick. Liss has in the past proved himself able to create far deeper and believable characters than a 19th century Sookie Stackhouse and to write with far greater depth than demonstrated here or by Charlaine Harris. I can only conjecture that our poor economy is driving his writing. I hope he is able to recapture and return to the art that made him a great writer.