The Wolf of Cape Fen, by Juliana Brandt

These past few weeks I've spent more money on new books from local bookstores than I usually do in a whole year, which is a win on multiple levels--the excitement of the parking lot pickup (phone call, wrapped book emerges, is placed on pavement by hooded figure, who then withdraws, allowing you to approach it), the pleasure of treating yourself to books you really want to read right now, and the pleasure of self back patting for supporting authors and indie stores.

In a nutshell, I just read with great enjoyment The Wolf of Cape Fen, by Juliana Brandt (Sourcebooks, April 2, 2020).

The people who live on Cape Fen are trapped there, by the magic of the mysterious Baron Dire and his wolf.  The Baron's magic is there for the taking, for those willing to bargains for it, and take their chances with it's twisted results.  A few have left the island, but the cost of those bargains is especially high.  11-year-old Eliza doesn't know the details of the bargain her mother made to leave almost 4 years ago, but knows she must look after her little sister Winnie as best she can.

But when the baron's wolf attacks Winnie, Eliza is terrified that Winnie was the thing her mother bargained away.  She's determined to find out all she can about the Baron's magic, and her mother's choice to invoke it.  And so begins her exploration of her home's twisted past, and all the twisted bargains folks have made, that takes her into the Baron's own home and into the dreams of her neighbors.  Time seems to be running out in her quest for answers; Winnie is changing...touched by someone's wish granted long ago.  And Eliza must use all her cleverness to twist the magic to save them both.

It's a lovely story of sibling love, full of magic and mystery!  There's more nuance to the Baron and his magic than Eliza had realized, and lots of  tangles of people and their pasts on Cape Fen for her to unravel.  The place and the people are all vivid and compelling, and Brandt's writing makes you almost feel like you are right there on this cold, grey island, full of rich and strange transformations of dreams into reality.  There's a feel of Patricia McKillip to it, and a feel similar to Kelly Barnhill, noth of whom I love, and of course more generally I am Right There for books about sisters.  This did not disappoint.

This is Juliana Brandt's debut, and I can't wait to see what she writes next! (in short, no regrets whatsoever about my perilous trip to the bookstore parking lot).