This novella is apparently part of a new “erotic fairytale” series by C. S. E. Cooney, author of the excellent novella collection Bone Swans—so be warned, it does contain explicit sex. The sex, however, is neither pornographic nor violent; it is very gentle and loving, in fact, so it should be a problem only to those who object to explicitness in itself. It also is not the main emphasis of the story.
The tale is set in Amandale, the location of the main piece in Bone Swans, though—at least to the eyes of city-trained young witch Marline, the narrator—Amandale seems a much smaller place than it did in “The Bone Swans of Amandale,” a mere “wide place in the road” rather than a prosperous village. The story also involves the haunted juniper tree that was featured in “Bone Swans,” but it is even more concerned with the beautiful almond grove surrounding the home of Marline’s mother and her second husband. The grove was created by the husband’s deceased first wife, Anaia, a “greenwitch” who could make any plant grow, and her spirit occupies its largest tree.
The story, at heart, is a classic “evil stepmother” story. Its intended victim is Wraith, the husband’s grown son by Anaia, but Marline’s mother is not evil intentionally; she has been possessed by the original evil woman, the stepmother who killed the child who haunts the juniper tree. She emerged from her thrall long enough to beg Marline (or “Mar,” as she prefers to be called) to help her, and Mar reluctantly comes home to provide it, meeting her stepfather and the handsome Wraith for the first time in the process. Mar already has a boyfriend, but….
Cooney continues to show her knack for creating instantly likeable characters and for producing fairy tale variations that feel (except perhaps for the explicit erotic angle) like the traditional ones. This is a charming tale (albeit not quite as good as the best ones in Bone Swans), and I will look forward to reading more work by Cooney.
OR
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![The Witch in the Almond Tree (The Witch's Garden Series Book 1) by [C. S. E. Cooney]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51IQJrlSh0L._SY346_.jpg)
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