#BlogTour ‘The Embroidered Book’ by Kate Heartfield

About the book…

A sweeping historical epic with a thread of magic, perfect for readers of ‘The Familiars’, ‘The Bindings, and ‘The Miniaturist‘.
‘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 arrives in Naples to marry a man she has never met. Two years later, her sister Antoine is sent to France to marry another stranger. In the mirrored corridors of Versailles, they rename her Marie Antoinette.

But the sisters are not powerless. When they were only children, Charlotte and Antoine discovered a book of spells – spells that seem to work, with dark and unpredictable consequences.

In a world of vicious court politics, of discovery and dizzying change, Charlotte and Antoine use their secret skills to redefine their lives, becoming the most influential women of the age.

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

Brimming with romance, betrayal, and the hidden power of women, ‘The Embroidered Book’ reveals and reimagines a dazzling period of history as you have never seen it before.

I would classify this type of novel as possibly history adjacent, dealing as it does with real people, sprinkled with historical characters such as Salieri and Mozart. However, in the best tradition of speculative fiction, who is to say that the events in this book did not happen? And isn’t it delicious to re-imagine and recreate one of history’s most famous, misquoted and possibly misunderstood women?

In doing so, Late Heartfield has created the most sweeping and engaging of novels, one which embraces witchcraft, the power which one gives, and the power which one one steals away.

The widow of the Holy Roman Emperor is clinging to the vestiges of her public position by dint of her children-one of them, Joseph, is the new Holy Roman Emperor which brings with it its own challenges, he wants to radically change the ability of individuals to be able to worship in the way they feel most speaks to them, and is of a philosophical bent . Her other children, all girls apart from the youngest boy, are seen as political pawns to strengthen alliances with other countries through marriage. Joseph’s twin, Josepha, is to be sent to France whilst another daughter, Charlotte, is to be sent to Naples.

There are various other children who have been lost to sickness, or are unmarriageable because of it-poor Liesl with her smallpox scars is destined for a holy life in a cloister-however, sisters Charlotte and Antoine are determined to use the book which they found in their governess’ sewing basket, after her violent and untimely death, to change the future for something better.

The embroidered book of the title was a work which the sisters had seen their governess, Erdag, working on until her death left one part unfinished. On determining to conclude  Erdag’s creation, the blank pages held within the book become filled with her handwriting, and instructions for magical spells. Working together, Antoine and Charlotte manage to master thirteen of them, to make small things happen such as possessing dolls, until they realise that so much more is at stake.

Each time they use the book to create magic, they surrender one of their memories and although they are young and have the idea that they have time to make more, they quickly realise that memories are a high and irreplacable price to pay for an unknown outcome.

Their mother tries to keep them apart, believing them to be bad influence son each other, and finally succeeds when after Jospeha dies, Antoine is to be sent to France to marry the dauphin, and become, Marie Antoinette.

Their need for a voice and to be listened to is so very apparent, they feel they have no agency except through witchcraft through which they try to subvert the wishes and actions of their implacable matriarch. However, dabbling in the contents of the embroidered book without any governance or guidance, especially given the mysterious nature of Erdag’s death, could come with provisos that no one could foresee.

The mixing of historical and fantastic is absolutely perfect, I had no trouble at all falling down this well of belief, religious extremism and historical fact whatsoever. It was entirely fascinating how these children were all seen as political currency and therefore why their mother kept that deliberate distance from them-with children dying so quickly and so young from the various diseases which plagued these times, you would be effectively handicapped by each death and therefore unable to do your regal duty. With great power comes great responsibility, and it is greatly evident here that starting as young girls, on the cusp of realising who and what they are to become, the witchcraft allegory represents the sacred feminine, the voice which they do not feel they are able to say out loud because women were not listened to or their wishes taken into account. Without a female role model beyond their stiff, remote and duty inclined mother, they only have each other to look to.

But when they are separated, who is going to take the book?

And what will happen as they get older and look further into the spells contained within the embroidered book?

Each page is beautifully rendered and Kate Heartfield stitches you into the story, sentence by sentence, until your imagination is seamlessly interwoven into this epic narrative.

It is gorgeous, heartbreaking and intimate as if you are being read a story just for you, and you alone. The book transcends itself in order to be more than what it is and I truly and eagerly devoured every single page.

About the author…

Kate Heartfield is the author of The Embroidered Book, a historical fantasy novel out in February 2022, and the Alice Payne time travel novellas (2018/2019).

Her debut novel ‘Armed In Her Fashion’ (2018) won Canada’s Aurora Award. She also writes interactive fiction, including The Road to Canterbury, and The Magician’s Workshop, published by Choice of Games.

Her short fiction has been shortlisted for the Nebula, Locus, Aurora, Sunburst and Crawford awards, and her journalism for a National Newspaper Award. Her short stories have appeared in Strange Horizons, Lackington’s, Podcastle and elsewhere. A former newspaper journalist, Kate lives near Ottawa, Canada

Links-https://heartfieldfiction.com/

Twitter @kateheartfield @HarperViyagerUK @RandomTTours