The Embroidered Book by Kate Heartfield

I would like to thank Harper Voyager and Anne from Random Things Tours for an advance copy of this novel in exchange for a fair and honest review

Publisher – Harper Voyager

Published – Out Now

Price – £14.99 hardback £6.99 Kindle eBook

‘Power is not something you are given. Power is something you take. When you are a woman, it is a little more difficult, that’s all’

1768. Charlotte, daughter of the Habsburg Empress, arrives in Naples to marry a man she has never met. Her sister Antoine is sent to France, and in the mirrored corridors of Versailles they rename her Marie Antoinette.

The sisters are alone, but they are not powerless. When they were only children, they discovered a book of spells – spells that work, with dark and unpredictable consequences.

In a time of vicious court politics, of discovery and dizzying change, they use the book to take control of their lives.

But every spell requires a sacrifice. And as love between the sisters turns to rivalry, they will send Europe spiralling into revolution.

Fantasy is often obsessed with monarchy. Bringing one down and putting another allegedly better one to rule in absolute power in their place. We get with the arrival of grimdark the premise that everyone is just out for themself but just perhaps a monarch is just as much a prisoner of the role as its user? In Kate Heartfield’s fascinating and immersive The Embroidered Book we getalook at two of the 18th century’s famous European monarchs who in this version of the world discover magic is real, offers immense power and carries a high price.

In 1760s Austria the Hapsburg Empire under the calculating influence of Empress Maria Theresa is forever looking for new alliances to maintain the balance of power in Europe. With a huge line of children in key riles within various royal families there is a constant balance to play. Her latest two additions to the game board will be Charlotte and Antoine. Due to an unexpected death the smart and calculating Charlotte now is destined to be Queen of Naples married to a notorious and lazy monarch while the younger and more inexperienced Antoine is now to take Charlotte’s place and marry the young Dauphin of France, where she will be eventually known as Marie-Antoinette.

Unknown to the Empress though the two young gurls discovered that their governess has a embroidered spellbook for various enchantments which has been a source of study and as the two get older they discover a magical world of practitioners known as magisters and rogues exist. They war two as the unlucky governess is found mysteriously murdered.  Typically, monarchs are avoided by these two groups; but Charlotte and Antoine should never be underestimated. They soon find themselves wielding unexpected power at one of the great turning points of history, but magic can have many unexpected surprises in store for the ambitious and unwary.

The worldbuilding here is a delight. You could almost be reading a history book creating the story of these two giants if history. Antoine’s tale we know the destination; while for me Charlotte is a lesser-known character yet one we find with a fascinating story of her own developing a powerbase from nothing. What Heartfield does so successfully is she brings the two to life and we watch their development from innocent princesses to Queens who each do what they believe to be right even if at the cost of the other. It just so happens that as well as political intrigue and armies they also can use magic to fight their battles. We go very carefully from the 1860s all the way to the French Revolution to understand the journey both women take; and this story really makes you see them not as pampered royalty but women who find out if you don’t play the game then you are powerless to do anything. With Charlotte she sees knowledge as another way to get her in the decision room and for her magic offers the chance initially to make her kingdom stronger by promoting knowledge and fairer rules. For Antoine it is negotiating herself around a hostile population who all see her as a useless interloper. She just wants to be liked. Subtly we see them use magic to further these aims but what Heartfield does really well is flesh out the period to show that this is an immense chessboard of warring and developing alliances that to make things even stranger is now having to deal with the Enlightenment and in particular those who feel monarchs should just give their power over to themselves.

This neatly works with the way magic is treated in the story. Magic can offer the power to control, change and influence people but it always demands sacrifice of your precious memories or feelings and the more you use it the more a sense of decay and rot emerges around the palaces that use it. Our two queens all have good intentions, but magic can be destructive and as they both start to share their secrets, they find there are always someone who see this less a case in loyalty but a temptation to gain more for themselves. Matching the period, we have kings and queens and those in nobility and other positions of power and neither really always remembers that the wider populace may want some influence. This book is more exploring how these ancient power games the Hapsburgs control are now being interrupted by what is ultimately the sound of a revolution all over the world and their consequences for rulers will be bloody.

Although my one issue is the pacing (at 650 pages it really can feel like we lived each year of the period) it’s a fascinating story of how the world; its in equalities and its prejudices (the magisters feel only intelligent rich men should have the power of magic) is creating a powder keg that various people try to take control of and they get harmed in the process. Both Queens make sacrifices to aid their agendas and that makes their lives look increasingly miserable despite all the power. We see both are really just expected to obey men and have their babies; so we understand why they both try to clear the art of intrigue, but it doesn’t make their lives that much better in the long term.

The Embroidered Book is an intelligent and fascinating tale of a period and two women I did not know much about. Heartfield’s ability to explain their world; its dangers and key characters (albeit all enhanced with the ability for magic to affect them) makes for a sumptuous story you should take time to enjoy and savour. I can’t wait to see what Heartfield wants to share with us next!