A Sorceress Comes to Call

Name: A Sorceress Comes to Call
Author: T. Kingfisher

by T. Kingfisher

Genre

Fantasy, Fiction, Suspense, Historical Fiction

Year

2024

Pages

321

Contents

Overview

A Sorceress Comes to Call by T. Kingfisher reimagines the Brothers Grimm tale of the Goose Girl as a tense gothic suspense novel. Fourteen-year-old Cordelia lives in suffocating fear of her mother Evangeline, a beautiful sorceress who can render her daughter "obedient"—paralyzing her body while leaving her mind trapped inside. Cordelia's only solace is her white horse Falada, until she discovers terrible truths about both her mother and her supposed companion.

When Evangeline sets her sights on a wealthy country squire as her next husband, she drags Cordelia into a household where the squire's sharp-eyed spinster sister, Hester, immediately senses something deeply wrong. Hester—plagued by a prophetic dread, supported by her loyal friends and the patient devotion of Lord Richard Evermore—must decide whether to trust her instincts and a frightened girl's impossible story before her brother is bound to a monster.

The novel explores themes of maternal abuse, autonomy, and the quiet courage of older women dismissed by society. Blending fairy-tale logic with drawing-room manners, Kingfisher pits ordinary kindness, friendship, and stubborn cleverness against magical tyranny, asking what it costs to free oneself—and others—from a captor who claims to love them.

Plot Summary ⚠️ Spoilers

Fourteen-year-old Cordelia endures life under her mother Evangeline's control. Evangeline uses magical "obedience" to paralyze Cordelia's body while leaving her mind aware, forbids closed doors, and demands constant access to her daughter's thoughts. Cordelia's only escape is her white horse Falada and a tentative friendship with a neighbor girl, Ellen. When Evangeline returns furious from her wealthy benefactor, Cordelia discovers two devastating truths: her mother is a sorceress, and Falada is her familiar—a spy who has reported every secret Cordelia ever whispered to him.

Evangeline announces they must relocate so she can secure a new husband. After harming Ellen's father, Mr. Parker, and stealing his carriage, she takes Cordelia to the home of Squire Samuel Chatham, a wealthy widower she means to marry. There she meets Hester, Samuel's middle-aged spinster sister, who has been warned by a lifelong premonition that something terrible is coming. Hester immediately senses Evangeline's wrongness and observes Cordelia's terror, deciding she must protect both her brother and the girl.

News breaks of a horrific axe massacre at the Parker estate—Mr. Parker killed eight people. Cordelia faints, silently confirming her mother's involvement. Hester, with the help of her perceptive maid Alice and her butler Tom Willard, begins quietly obstructing Evangeline's seduction of Samuel. To buy time, she invites a house party: Lord and Lady Strauss with their son, the magnetic widow Penelope Green, and Hester's longtime devoted suitor Lord Richard Evermore.

Penelope effortlessly outshines Evangeline, drawing Samuel's affections back. Evangeline retaliates: one night, Penelope is found bloodied beside her murdered maid, then walks jerkily across her balcony and falls to her death. Evangeline frames it as a jealous suicide. Devastated, Cordelia finally confesses everything to Hester—her mother is a sorceress who can puppet bodies, and was responsible for both the Parker massacre and Penelope's death. Richard travels to interview the imprisoned Mr. Parker, who confirms the truth through his physical inability to speak about Evangeline.

Samuel announces his engagement, with Evangeline simultaneously puppeting Cordelia to perform delight. Hester, Imogene Strauss, and Richard concoct a plan: Richard will pretend to court Cordelia, giving Hester a chaperone's pretext to investigate sorcery during the honeymoon. Meanwhile, Penelope's ghost begins speaking inside Cordelia's mind—she did not pass on cleanly because Evangeline shoved her consciousness sideways instead of letting her die. Penelope reveals that Falada is not truly a horse, and that water, wine, and salt together form a kind of anti-magic that breaks spells.

The wedding takes place. Penelope's ghost discovers that on holy ground she can briefly perceive the world clearly, and accidentally alerts Evangeline to her presence. Evangeline tests Cordelia with a sudden magical strike but finds her unsuspicious. After the ceremony, the party travels to Lord Evermore's estate, where his geese hiss at Falada—traditional wards against evil. Evangeline departs on her honeymoon but leaves Falada behind to watch Cordelia.

Hester, Cordelia, Imogene, Richard, and Willard search Richard's chaotic library for a way to stop Evangeline. Imogene discovers an alchemical ritual that strips a sorcerer of power using water, wine, and salt invoked by people whose souls match each reagent. They decide to test it on Falada. Cordelia stands in the chalk circle while old stableman Bernard helps subdue the familiar, losing an ear to Falada's bite. Hester's water-note and Imogene's salt-note ring powerfully, but Richard's wine-note fails—his soul does not match wine—and the ritual collapses.

The group kills Falada and burns his head, but he digs himself out of his grave overnight. Headless and undying, he attacks the household, killing the gamekeeper. Cordelia, blaming herself, sneaks out to lure Falada away. Instead, the familiar carries her straight to Evangeline, who has returned early. Evangeline tortures Cordelia with obedience magic and a penknife, forcing her to carve her own thigh, until Cordelia saves herself by feigning love for Richard and naming him as the conspirator. Evangeline plans to murder Richard and frame Imogene.

Brought back to Evermore, Cordelia is compelled to stab Richard. With Penelope's encouragement she fights the magic and deflects the blow, only grazing his cheek. Hester clubs Evangeline unconscious with her cane while Imogene threatens Falada with embroidery scissors at Evangeline's throat. The group improvises the ritual on ordinary ground, recognizing that holy ground is made holy by belief. Penelope's ghost volunteers as the wine; Alice channels her, lake-water serves as water, and bitten lips supply salt. As Cordelia chants, the three notes harmonize. Evangeline wakes, panicked, warning that something is breaking loose. Cordelia embraces her mother as she finishes the rite. Penelope says farewell.

The unmaking strips Evangeline of her power. Falada, finally revealed as a transparent, many-eyed monstrosity, tramples Evangeline to death in vengeance for his own bondage, then turns on Hester and Richard. The short-legged gander flies into his face, buying just enough time for the last layer of his binding to dissolve, and Falada vanishes. A week later, Richard proposes that he and Hester adopt Cordelia, with Hester living at Evermore House as her chaperone—a quiet acceptance of the marriage they had long postponed. Cordelia, freed from her mother and her magical sensitivity, visits Penelope's grave and resolves to live, whatever she does, with style.

Characters

Cordelia

Fourteen-year-old protagonist whose sorceress mother controls her body through magical "obedience." Quiet, observant, and starved of kindness, she finds the courage to confide in Hester, ally with Penelope's ghost, and ultimately complete the ritual that frees her.
Evangeline

Cordelia's beautiful, ruthless mother, a powerful hidden sorceress who uses obedience magic to puppet bodies and eliminate rivals. She schemes to marry the wealthy Squire Chatham and marry Cordelia off for money, killing anyone who stands in her way.
Falada

Evangeline's white, green-eyed horse, revealed to be her familiar—a non-horse spirit bound in animal form who has spied on Cordelia for years. Even decapitated and burned, he returns as a monstrous undying creature until the final binding dissolves.
Hester

Squire Chatham's middle-aged spinster sister, gifted with a prophetic sense of Doom. Sharp, kind, and pragmatic despite a bad knee, she leads the conspiracy to expose Evangeline and protect both her brother and Cordelia, while quietly nursing decades-old feelings for Richard.
Squire Samuel Chatham

Hester's good-natured but easily charmed brother, a country squire who falls for Evangeline's fragile-widow act. Oblivious to her sorcery, he becomes the unwitting target of her marriage plot and the man Hester must save.
Lord Richard Evermore

Tall, silver-haired bachelor lord and Hester's longtime devoted suitor, whom she once refused. Honorable and steady, he investigates Mr. Parker, plays a sham fiancé to Cordelia, and finally wins a future with Hester after the ordeal.
Penelope Green

Witty, smallpox-scarred widow and former mistress of the Squire, invited to upstage Evangeline. Murdered by Evangeline's sorcery, she lingers as a ghost in Cordelia's mind, supplies key knowledge of anti-magic, and ultimately serves as the wine-soul that completes the unmaking ritual.
Imogene Strauss

Hester's worldly, sharp-tongued friend who quickly diagnoses Evangeline's intentions and pushes ruthless practical solutions. She locates the alchemical ritual in Richard's library and embodies the salt-note that helps unmake Evangeline's magic.
Lord Strauss

Imogene's jovial husband, a tall, kind nobleman whose presence at the house party provides social cover.
Master Strauss

The Strausses' awkward son who corners Cordelia with endless monologues about horses, briefly raising Evangeline's suspicions of flirtation.
Alice

Cordelia's perceptive young maid, the first person to treat her with kindness. She warns Hester of Cordelia's abuse, becomes Cordelia's lady's maid, and serves as the conduit for Penelope's wine-note in the climactic ritual.
Tom Willard

Hester's loyal butler and childhood friend, who organizes the household's resistance to Evangeline. Dismissed by Evangeline after the wedding, he joins the Evermore conspiracy, brings order to the library search, and helps execute the unmaking ritual.
Mr. Parker

Evangeline's longtime benefactor, whom she compelled to axe-murder his own family in Little Haw before stealing his carriage. Imprisoned and physically unable to speak of her, his condition becomes Richard's proof that Evangeline's sorcery is real.
Ellen

Mr. Parker's daughter and Cordelia's only childhood friend, whose kindness once hinted to Cordelia that her home life was abnormal. She survives her father's massacre by being pushed onto the roof by her governess.
Bernard

Old, sharp-eyed Evermore stableman who insists on handling Falada during the first ritual. He loses an ear to the familiar's bite but helps Cordelia subdue him; Cordelia's swift action saves his life.
Mrs. Tan

Authoritative city dressmaker who overrules Evangeline's attempts to dress Cordelia provocatively, insisting on modest gowns in bold emerald and sapphire.

Themes

T. Kingfisher's A Sorceress Comes to Call is, on its surface, a dark fairy-tale retelling of "The Goose Girl," but its true power lies in how it transmutes folkloric elements into a searing meditation on coercion, autonomy, and the slow, communal work of liberation.

Bodily Autonomy and the Horror of Coercive Control. The novel's most visceral theme is the violation of selfhood. Evangeline's "obedience" magic—which traps Cordelia inside her own body while her limbs move at another's will—is a chilling literalization of psychological abuse. The forbidden closed doors, the bland daybook, the betrayal by Falada (who has been reporting her every secret), all dramatize a child denied even interior privacy. Penelope's death, walked off a balcony in her own body, extends this horror to its logical end. Cordelia's eventual ability to twist a compelled knife-strike becomes the novel's quiet triumph: the reclamation of will, even by inches.

Maternal Love as Captivity. Kingfisher refuses easy villainy. Evangeline genuinely shaped Cordelia for marriage rather than killing her as a toddler, and Cordelia despises the part of herself that still hungers for her mother's affection. This ambivalence—loving one's abuser, mourning a horse-confidant who was always a spy—gives the book its emotional teeth.

Found Family and Collective Rescue. Against Evangeline's isolating tyranny, Kingfisher arrays a coalition: spinster Hester, sharp-tongued Imogene, loyal Alice, butler Willard (eventually "Tom"), Lord Evermore, and even Penelope's ghost. Liberation is explicitly not a solo heroic act. The unmaking ritual literally requires four harmonized souls; Old Bernard's ear, the geese's vigilance, Alice's lake-soaked shift, and Penelope's posthumous courage all matter equally. Salvation is cobbled together from belief, improvisation, and trust.

Belief as Power. Imogene's musing that holy ground is consecrated by belief becomes the novel's metaphysical key. Evangeline is a "lady" because people believe it; the ritual works because the participants believe it. Power—social and magical alike—is constructed.
Aging, Desire, and Worthiness. Hester's subplot with Richard quietly insists that women past fifty deserve love, partnership, and adventure. Her fear of being seen as diminished mirrors Cordelia's fear of being seen at all.
Geese, Wards, and the Domestic Uncanny. Kingfisher's recurring goose motif—creatures of homely irritation that nonetheless repel evil—embodies her signature ethos: the small, ordinary, and unglamorous are precisely what defeat monsters.

Ultimately, the novel argues that style, kindness, and stubborn ordinary decency are forms of resistance. Cordelia's closing vow—to do whatever she does "with style"—is Penelope's legacy and the book's quiet manifesto: surviving is not enough; one must reclaim the self with flourish.