The Conjurer’s Wife by Sarah Penner

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


I was really NOT impressed with this novella.

The main character is Olivia, wife and stage assistant to the premier magician of their time. Olivia mentioned several times how she had been married for Oscar for a year, and that she had a terrible accident at the time, causing her to have no memory of what occurred before. This comes up several times during this short story, with her focusing on a broken wrist that never healed correctly.

Oscar is a perfectionist, not happy at all when Olivia stands off her mark or doesn’t follow the exact script. He has secrets, especially concerning Olivia and her past. She is quite focused on an article she finds in his dressing room, about witches. That evening, she comes across a painting of these witches; what a coincidence, right?

Back at home that night, she discovers the source of Oscar’s magic and decides to make a change to their big finale of the next magic show. Let’s just say, that what appears in the glass box is NOT what Oscar was anticipating. Olivia uses Oscar’s magic secret to escape and find the witches.

This story was too short. It felt like it was cut out of another novel. There really is no resolution. It didn’t feel finished at all. The only reason it gets 2 stars is because while the plotline IS intriguing, I’d like it to have been fleshed out into a longer novel. And Marmalade the fox is just adorable.



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