Cinders and Sparrows

August 24, 2020
When an animated scarecrow delivers a letter naming her sole heir to a powerful family’s ancient estate, 12-year-old orphan and maid Zita Brydgeborn discovers that witches are real—and that she is descended from one of the last great witching families on the continent. Arriving at decaying Blackbird Castle, Zita is greeted by her bitter and disapproving new guardian, Mrs. Cantanker, and two young orphans, Minnifer and Bram, who staff the sprawling, haunted manse. As Zita learns witchcraft under Mrs. Cantanker’s harsh tutelage, she, along with Minnifer, Bram, and some of the house’s many spirits, searches for a way to reverse the curse that has petrified her family. In a house so full of secrets, however, nothing is what it seems. Through enticing details, Bachmann (A Drop of Night) creates a singular, gothic world in which a long-declining class of psychopompic witches defend against the restless dead. Though uneven pacing and sticky plot points occasionally betray the story’s intricately laid (and mislaid) trails, dreadful creatures, an absorbing atmosphere of escalating tension and paranoia, and moments of delightful magic all make for a memorable adventure. Ages 8–12. Agent: Sara Megibow, Nelson Literary.