#BlogTour ‘Threadneedle’ by Cari Thomas

About the book…

Within the boroughs of London, nestled among its streets, hides another city, filled with magic.

Magic is the first sin. It must be bound.

Ever since Anna can remember, her aunt has warned her of the dangers of magic. She has taught her to fear how it twists and knots and turns into something dark and deadly.

It was, after all, magic that killed her parents and left her in her aunt’s care. It’s why she has been protected from the magical world and, in one year’s time, what little magic she has will be bound. She will join her aunt alongside the other Binders who believe magic is a sin not to be used, but denied. Only one more year and she will be free of the curse of magic, her aunt’s teachings and the disappointment of the little she is capable of.

Nothing – and no one – could change her mind before then. Could it?

Many thanks to the ever wonderful Anne Cater of Random Things for the blogtour invite and Harper Voyager for the most spectacular proof of ‘Threadneedle’, one of my most anticipated novels of the year!

What a way to end the month of May, I have  hardly been able to read at all, having hit rock bottom, in a mental health way, it has become increasingly hard to give yourself over completely to another world.

How cruel is it that the one way you normally cope with crises is snatched by your over busy, catastrophising brain?!

Until I picked up this book and found I could lose myself in the pages of a stellar debut that I sincerely hope will have sequels, spin offs and so much more. There is a lot going on in this alternate London, and one that needs at least 5 more novels and a Netflix series please and thanking you Cari Thomas(no pressure!)

I fully expect that Cresey Square and St Olave’s school will be mentioned in the same way that Hogwarts and Privet Drive are, and here is why.

Anna, a soon to be 16 year old orphan, has been brought up by her aunt Vivienne, raised to believe that non adherence to the rules of ‘binding’ magic so as not to be noticeable by humans was the cause of her parents deaths. Her reality has been formed, hemmed in and repeatedly sewn over with daily lessons on the danger of magic, her aunt, one of the society of Binders, sees magic as a curse, a sin, and something which needs to be controlled to the point of physical and psychological injury. Sacrifice is a daily motif in Anna’s life, and, she has developed into being so unnoticeable that she doesn’t register on the radars of school bullies, the higher echelons of Binders or her aunt, alike.

Until she turns 16 and her glamorous aunt, Selene and cousin Effie, turn up and spin her entire world on its axis. She has always envied Effie for her free and unfettered life as well as having a mother in her life. But appearances are deceptive and the grass is not always as green as Anna thinks it appears to be.

Her final years at St Olave’s school will be the most tumultuous and, far from being the one girl no one really remembers is in the class, this time Anna will be taking center stage.

For Effie, and co-conspirator Attis, are about to tap into the magic which Anna believes has long been extinguished within her, a coven is about to rise within the school and things will never be the same again.

There is so much to delve into and enjoy in ‘Threadneedle’, dive into and luxuriate in the obvious joy of language that Cari brings to each page, the intricate and meticulously created world and mythology of the world of binders and witches. From the Binder’s Bible, to the complex nature of the magic which chooses the owner-for example, shrubs and hedge witches, those like Anna who use twine and thorn as their ‘Hira’, their essence of witchiness-there is so much to explore and enjoy.

She acutely nails the perceptions and hopes of a young girl on the edge of becoming a woman-the legacy of those who came before her lies heavily on her shoulders and yet, it is a narrative she has been raised on, not one which might be true. In her attempts to keep Anna safe, Vivienne, a more experienced and book wise witch might have created a situation for Anna to escape from, whilst, in the opposite corner, is Selene. Well travelled, someone who gives into the whims of her physical and mental desires, she is without boundaries and as unfettered as Vivienne is uptight.

Between these lies Anna, trying to become her own person but not quite understanding how to. Her entire life has been constructed around a magic that she is not even sure that she possesses. And it is easy to see how this reflects the reality of modern women-how do you step on this path to your essential womanhood when being visible can result in your silencing,mutilation, subjugation and even death?

As the novel begins with a shocking act of violence, the weft and warp of this story is at once old as the Salem witch trials and as new as third wave feminism. In our attempts to be heard, all the voices that women have are still being drowned out, smothered and silenced:in other words, bound.

I loved the sub textual feminist threads of this story, the world building, the conflict between past and present, visibility and servitude, rules made and rules broken,and the journey these young women go on was so engrossing, immersive and relatable that I finished and immediately went back to page 1.

Honestly, do yourself a favour and get a copy of this exceptional debut, and lose yourself in a London unlike any you will have experienced.

About the author…

I grew up in the Wye Valley area of Wales and moved to London in my twenties. I worked as a journalist for various publications and at a creative agency, before finally doing what I’d always wanted to do. I quit my job and wrote a book about magic.

I split my days between freelance work and roaming London, writing in cafés and libraries and any hideouts I could find, eating far too much cake and imagining a magical world hidden within today’s London. A world of wild, ancient witchcraft. A world of modern fairytale. A world where libraries made of books breathe dusty pages beneath the city and witch clubs serve up magical cocktails and vintage shops sell memories. A world where magic gleams both light and very, very dark. It was fun. It resulted in my debut novel Threadneedle, the first in my Language of Magic series.

I have now moved back West, to Bristol, with my husband and son. When I’m not reading strange magical books and working on my next book, I like to eat good food, watch movies, dance around the kitchen, write poetry and wander the woods, which I believe is the most magical place on earth.

Links-https://www.carithomas.com/

Twitter @cari_threads @RandomTTours @HarperVoyager