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The Magicians and Mrs. Quent, by Galen Beckett
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Galen Beckett weaves a dazzling spell of adventure and suspense in an evocative world of high magick and genteel society–a world where one young woman discovers that her modest life is far more extraordinary than she ever imagined.
Of the three Lockwell sisters–romantic Lily, prophetic Rose, and studious, book-loving Ivy–it’s Ivy, the eldest, who’s held the family together after their father’s silent retreat to the library upstairs. Everyone blames Mr. Lockwell’s malady on his magickal studies, but Ivy still believes–both in magick and in its power to bring her father back.
Yet it is not until Ivy takes a job with the reclusive Mr. Quent that she discovers the fate she shares with a secret society of highwaymen, revolutionaries, illusionists, and spies who populate the island nation of Altania. It’s a fate that will determine whether Altania faces a new dawn–or an everlasting night.
- Sales Rank: #1543814 in Books
- Brand: Beckett, Galen
- Published on: 2009-11-24
- Released on: 2009-11-24
- Original language: English
- Number of items: 1
- Dimensions: 8.20" h x 1.20" w x 5.50" l, .86 pounds
- Binding: Paperback
- 498 pages
From Publishers Weekly
Jane Austen, Charlotte Brontë and H.P. Lovecraft collide in Beckett's periodically entertaining debut. Young Ivy Lockwell, the unmarried daughter of a family stricken with poverty after her magician father went mad, travels from her home in Invarel, a mirror of Austen-era London, to become a governess at the country estate of Heathcrest, a Bronte-analogue complete with mysterious Rochester stand-in, Mr. Quent. As a woman, she is forbidden to perform magic and consoles herself with the study of magical history, discovering an ancient story still working its will on the world. Treading a fine line between homage and unoriginality, Invarel occasionally sparkles with descriptions of illusionist shows and quasi-fascist government activity, but Heathcrest is lifted part and parcel from Jane Eyre, and Beckett relies too much on references to that work to fuel emotional arcs and reader attachment. (Aug.)
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Review
“A charming and mannered fantasy confection with a darker core of gothic romance wrapped around a mystery. Fans of any of these will enjoy it. Readers who enjoy all these genres will find it a banquet.” —Robin Hobb, author of Renegade’s Magic
“I loved reading this piquant page-turner of a retro-modernist fantasy novel. But it’s more than just a rattling good time. Like its characters, it is not merely devastatingly clever, but has a heart and a soul.” —Ellen Kushner, author of The Privilege of the Sword
“The Magicians and Mrs. Quent is a charming and accomplished debut, sure to delight fantasy afficianados and lovers of gothic romance alike.” —Jacqueline Carey, author of Kushiel’s Mercy
“The Magicians and Mrs Quent combines the sense and sensibility of Miss Austen with the sweep and romantic passion of the Miss Brontes in a fantastical feast of delights. From the moment I encountered the resourceful and charming Miss Ivoleyn Lockwell, I was eager to follow her from the fashionable streets of the city to her new employment as governess at lonely Heathcrest Hall on the windswept and rugged moorlands. In Altania, Galen Beckett has created a fascinating and engaging world where the formalities and courtesies of polite society conceal the emergence of a dark and ancient force that threatens to destabilize the kingdom and destroy everything that Ivy holds dear.”—Sarah Ash, author of Tracing the Shadow
“An enchanting blend of Victorian melodrama, Edwardian comedy of manners, and magic, a trip into an alternate universe in which top-hatted gentlemen dabble in magic and young women of great spirit are as beleaguered by their lack of dowry as they are by the evil villains. The characters are convincing, the plot vertiginous, and the danger bone-chilling.”—Delia Sherman, author of The Porcelain Dove
"[Beckett] cleverly mixes fantasy and literary....with elements of the fantastic, an imaginative eye, and a dry sense of humor."—NPR.org
About the Author
What if there was a fantastical cause underlying the social constraints and limited choices confronting a heroine in a novel by Jane Austen or Charlotte Brontë? Galen Beckett began writing The Magicians and Mrs. Quent to answer that question. He lives in Colorado and is currently at work on the next chapter in this fabulous tale of witches, magicians, and revolution, The House on Durrow Street.
From the Hardcover edition.
Most helpful customer reviews
91 of 100 people found the following review helpful.
Outstanding pastiche
By Orson Scott Card
I love the work of Jane Austen; the Bronte sisters not so much. I was well warned by the cover that this was an Austen pastiche, so I could hardly be disappointed to find that it does, indeed, echo motifs from all of Austen's books. (Falling ill in someone else's house; fetching the mother; intense concentration on marriage proposals; the entailed house; couples avoiding the "inappropriate" marriage.)
And let's not forget the echoes of Dickens in the story of the young man of good family fallen on hard times and working as a scrivener in a counting house while trying to protect his sister ...
The middle of the book is an epistolary - the main character, Ivy, is off to be a governess in an ancient, half-unused mansion with a locked room, an aloof, mysterious master, and a hostile housekeeper (Rebecca and Mrs Danvers? Not quite; not even The Sound of Music ). Ivy has charge of children who see ghosts (The Turn of the Screw!), and seemingly hostile villagers are suspicious of all green-eyed women. The letters about the ensuing events are written to Ivy's father, who has been driven mad by some magical thing he did years before. It could not be more gothic.
All along, however, this is also a fascinating magical-18th-century fantasy. The world is as richly invented as any fantasy should be, with soul-eating aliens from a wandering planet poised to invade even as the ancient forests are staging a perilous uprising and magicians are few at a time when they are much needed.
Taking on Austen is a very hard thing to do, but most of the time Galen Beckett gets the language and the manners right. Most especially, the wit, while not up to Oscar Wilde (nothing is), is certainly credible for an Austenesque society.
For diehard fantasy fans, perhaps too much time is taken with the early portions of the book before the fantasy really shows itself and takes over the storyline. But since I'm a fan of both fantasy AND Austen's comedies of manners, for me the combination worked very well. I stayed up all night to finish it and am giving it away to friends and family.
And for those who care, I must say it's nice to see, once again, proof that a story can be sexually charged and full of danger and violence without ever having to resort to foul language or scenes I'd be embarrassed to read aloud to my mother.
- Orson Scott Card
38 of 43 people found the following review helpful.
Nothing new
By Kat Hooper
From the back flap: "What if there were a fantastical cause underlying the social constraints and limited choices confronting a heroine in a novel by Jane Austen or Charlotte Brontë? Galen Beckett, ... began The Magicians and Mrs. Quent to answer that question ...."
I was excited to receive a copy of The Magicians and Mrs. Quent, Galen Beckett's "debut" novel. There's something exciting about a new author -- they're fresh, and when you hold one of their books in your hands (especially a beautiful one like The Magicians and Mrs. Quent), you hope that maybe you're about to discover a brand new talent.
Imagine my disappointment when I turned over the title page and read that the copyright to The Magicians and Mrs. Quent belongs to Mark Anthony. I immediately went to both authors' websites. Galen Beckett's talked about his debut novel. Mark Anthony's said (and still says as of 9/22/08):
"So what is the new book? Well, not to be too cagey, but that's something I can't answer quite yet. I can tell you that it's not another book in The Last Rune series--that tale, wonderful as it was for me, has come to a close. I can also tell you that the new book is a fantasy. However, it's fairly different than my previous books. So different, in fact, that my publisher has decided to launch the book under a new pen name.
And that's where all the cloak-and-dagger stuff comes in. I've been asked by my publisher not to publicly reveal my alter ego just yet, so as not to spoil the secret. The good news is that I will be able to talk more freely about the new book once it's out. So keep checking back. As soon as I'm at liberty to reveal my other writing identity, you'll see the news right here."
(So, I guess I've just outed Galen Beckett and Mark Anthony.) Despite my disappointment, I still began TMAMQ with anticipation -- Todd really enjoyed the first of The Last Rune novels (though not the second), and I enjoy a 19th century style English novel, so I knew there was potential here. I won't summarize the plot for you, since the publisher's blurb (above) does that nicely.
The first third of the book is almost a re-telling of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, in both style, plot, and character stereotypes. There are three sisters living with their batty mother in a low but genteel house which will transfer to their relative Mr Wyble when the mother dies. Ivy, the eldest, is bookish, intelligent, and rational. Rose is dreamy and strange. Lily is boy crazy and silly. Mr Wyble is a lawyer who is constantly trying to ingratiate himself with people who he thinks are better than him. He says things such as:
"While my schedule would have permitted me to pay you a visit around the middle of the month, another opportunity was presented to me, which, I am sure once the particulars are heard, you must judge was the wisest investment of my time. Recently I had the good fortune to be of service to Lady Marsdel, a most noble personage of the highest degree. In her extreme -- dare I say, almost overpowering -- generosity, she invited me to an affair at her house in the New Quarter. There I was happy to make the acquaintance of many remarkable and important persons."
I've read that before -- it's Mr Collins. There are also character analogues to Jane Austen's Mr Wickham, Mr Darcy, Mr Bennett, and Lady Catherine De Bourgh. And In addition to these character and style similarities, there are plot borrowings, too: Ivy gets ill while visiting Lady Marsdel's (Lady Catherine De Bourgh's) house and has to stay for days to recover, Dashton Rafferdy (Mr Darcy) struggles with his feelings for Ivy (Elizabeth Bennett) but knows he can't marry her because of their difference in social status.
Much of the second part of TMAMQ comes from Jane Eyre and the style abruptly changes from light social sarcasm to gothic romance. Ivy goes to be governess to Mr Rochester's -- I mean Mr Quent's -- wards at Heathcrest Hall. A local man accuses her of being a witch. There are strange things happening at the manor and Mr Quent and his housekeeper are keeping secrets (and a secret room). I won't tell you the rest of it so that I won't spoil the plot in case you haven't read Jane Eyre (or in case you missed the title of Mr Beckett's book). Beckett's best drawn character, Eldyn Garritt, and his plot come from Charles Dickens.
Beckett's writing style is not on par with his influencers, but it's very pleasant nonetheless. But much of his plot and his characters, though interesting, were not impressive because I've seen them all before. I understand that his purpose is to write pastiche, but I was hoping for something fresh. There are some engaging elements here, though: ancient patches of forest threaten to rise up and overtake Altania (fantasy England), a group of men plot to overthrow the government and let in a new ruler (it's not clear which side we should be on), the "Ashen" are some sort of aliens who want to suck out everyone's souls, unknown planets are appearing and aligning, Eldyn can wrap himself in shadows, and a mysterious stranger occasionally shows up to give Ivy a clue or encouragement (but I never figured out why he didn't just give her the answers). Perhaps most interesting is that in Ivy's world, days and nights vary in length so that she must consult an almanac if she wants to know how long the night will last (alas, we're given no scientific explanation for that). But none of these fantastical elements seem to fit together -- it feels like they are some random interesting ideas that were thrown in in order to present a fantasy novel in a 19th century style. The ending was wrapped up too quickly and conveniently without much explanation of how these pieces fit. Perhaps they'll all come together in the sequel, but for now I'm left confused.
Mr Beckett can certainly write, and he's got this style down, but I'd like to see him do something original and meaningful -- something that doesn't leave me scratching my head. The back flap of the novel suggests that we're going to learn the "fantastical cause underlying the social constraints and limited choices confronting a heroine in a novel by Jane Austen or Charlotte Brontë," but Beckett never answers the question -- he doesn't give us anything new. The "social constraints" that Ivy faces seem to be the same constraints that Jane Bennett and Jane Eyre faced: pride and prejudice.
14 of 18 people found the following review helpful.
Wow!!!...Wait...What??....Huh?!?!?..
By N. Carpenter
This fantasy twist on Austen was really compelling and the characters, while echoing traits of Austen characters but not entirely mimicking them, were fun and interesting and showed great promise. The plot twists were good and not over-done and cliche. Instead of just throwing lots of magical creatures and goings on at you from the get-go like most fantasy books, this one started to weave more of a historical mystery theme about it with just small dashes of fantasy and magic in just the right amount of places. It was a setup for a really unique fantasy mystery.
Unfortunately, about halfway through the book, the tone and style of the book shifts 90 degrees. Everything changes within a span of a few pages with no satisfactory reason to explain it all. It felt like a completely different author took over writing. Complex characters flattened into one-dimensional, the mystery falls flat on its face, the plot unfolds into Howard the Duck, and absolutely no coherency was anywhere to be found.
I don't think I would recommend this book to anyone until a sequel hopefully becomes available. I was left wanting some sort of explanation of why for nearly everything that happened in the second half of the book. I really feel that this book left me with a "2+2=cow" feeling. I liked the first half enough though to hope that a sequel might provide answers or at least a smoothing over and return from the weird randomness of the second half.
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