Hemlock & Silver by T. Kingfisher
Another brilliant reimagining from the queen of Fairy Tale remixes. T. Kingfisher has really nailed her niche with these wonderfully imaginative retellings of classic fairy tales. In Hemlock & Silver, Kingfisher tackles one of the most recognizable and classic tales of them all: Snow White.
Healer Anja, an eccentric poison specialist, finds herself in a rather precarious position. The king’s daughter, Snow, has fallen ill, and the king is convinced that someone is poisoning her.
He has used every resource at his disposal and taken every possible precaution to prevent further poisoning, yet he has run out of options — and he fears he’s running out of time. He has heard of Anja’s special expertise and, as options run scarce, hopes she will be able to ascertain the cause of this mysterious illness and help to uncover the culprit.
Anja journeys to a castle in the middle of the desert, where Snow has been moved in hopes of outrunning the poisoner, but she quickly finds herself stumped and begins to question if the illness is borne of poison at all. In the course of her research/spying, she discovers a hidden world that lies on the other side of a magic mirror. Could this realm be the key to discovering what is making Snow sick?
Anja, along with her highly venomous “pet” snake, a reluctant Rooster/test subject, a loyal (and handsome) Royal Guard, and a talking cat, might be the only ones who can save Snow, and perhaps the kingdom, from dark forces lurking on the other side of the mirror.
Eccentric Characters, Cozy Storytelling
One thing that Kingfisher does so very well with these stories is in crafting these eccentric, comical and loveable characters that are full of wit, charm and humor. Anja is not the heroine you would expect from a story like this. She is socially awkward, a bit blunt and unused to dealing with forward-facing interactions.
She doesn’t perceive herself as a heroine at all, but rather, a humble scientist who doesn’t wish to save the world. She is really more keen on answering the questions that have gone without answers for centuries, and if that happens to save lives, call it a happy accident.
The story has light romance, a great found-family element and wonderful world-building. With methodical pacing, Kingfisher crafts a fun little romp once the action gets going. I found myself really wanting to learn more about the mirror world and how it came to be, but perhaps we will get another connected novel in the future?
If you are a fan of T. Kingfisher’s other works, such as Nettle and Bone or Thornhedge, you will absolutely adore this book. If you are new to this author, I highly recommend starting here. Some of her other books are shorter, but I feel that this novel is well fleshed out and introduces you to her signature writing style and fantastical, cozy storytelling.
About T. Kingfisher:
T. Kingfisher is the vaguely absurd pen-name of Ursula Vernon, an author from North Carolina. In another life, she writes children’s books and weird comics. She has been nominated for the World Fantasy and the Eisner, and has won the Hugo, Sequoyah, Nebula, Alfie, WSFA, Coyotl and Ursa Major awards, as well as a half-dozen Junior Library Guild selections.
This is the name she uses when writing things for grown-ups. Her work includes multiple fairy-tale retellings and odd little stories about elves and goblins.
When she is not writing, she is probably out in the garden, trying to make eye contact with butterflies.
