A Season of Monstrous Conceptions by Lina Rather
Publisher - Tordorcom
Published - out now
Price - £17.99 hardback £8.99 Kindle eBook
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. 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.
Science and magic are at odds and yet related in ways we explore explaining how we see the world come together. Even something that is as integral to humanity as childbirth is a place where these two forces often collided on the past. In Lina Rather’s dark historical fantasy A Season of Monstrous Conceptions explores strange events around the time of the enlightenment but ultimately left me nonplussed.
Sarah is a woman of secrets now living in London learning the skill of midwifery. She hides the death of her husband, her magical senses to another world and the beginning of a new relationship with a woman named Margaret. But a chance encounter with the Wren family being new dangers and the future of the world lies at stake.
Ok this story was for me an odd mix of really appreciating the writing but felt ultimately it’s a lot of interesting scenes and ideas but it doesn’t really for me come together. We get a good third setting up this strange world of 17th century London where families are seeing a host of strange births with strange deformities with some form of magical influence and Sarah’s role as a magical midwife’s apprentice.
But I found Sarah a bit of a strange character who after being shown as new and unsure of her role is then revealed to know how her power can be used. Then we get Christopher Wren brought into the mix and then we get a battle for the future of the world. Lots of ideas, every scene is well written but I feel a lack of cohesiveness across the whole which for me is the strength of a good novella. Instead this feels like three or four short stories joined mechanically. Lots of atmosphere but little else and left me underwhelmed for what is quite a long novella. Sadly not something I will remember much about in a few days time and not really one I can recommend.
