T. Kingfisher (aka Ursula Vernon) has hit a home run with this imaginative and dark-kissed retelling of the fairy tale Snow White. So much more imaginative and intriguing than most of the previous ones I have read. Thankfully, Hemlock and Silver, is a standalone book allowing readers (and listeners) to pick it up without having to previously read anything else. Although, you just might find yourself looking for more of Kingfisher’s works if you aren’t familiar with it.
The tale focuses on Anja, a skilled poison expert with a secondary talent in healing. She’s far more interested in poisons and their antidotes, and not beyond drinking poisons to confirm her theories. She’s rather heavier and curvier than the usual protagonist, and her social skills leave a great deal of room for improvement. However, she is immediately likeable and her motivations are easily understood.
The King’s daughter, Snow, is ill and he is certain she is being poisoned by enemies of the crown. He arrives at Anja's workshop and fairly begs her to come and examine his daughter and hopefully heal her. Naturally, Anja feels rather duty bound to examine the girl and perhaps cure her, after being recommended by her father. She isn’t holding her breath, though.
She befriends her two guards – the king wants her kept safe – one of whom, Javier, catches both her eye and heart. She is soon caught up in the mystery surrounding the girl, and the guardsman follows along to do his job. Snow is ill, and Anja is fairly certain she is being poisoned, but there is just no obvious way it could be happening.
There is something odd going on at the castle, something that involves the mirrors. Anja may have to change her stance on her beliefs in magic as the tale progresses, especially after discovering Grayling, the talking, narcissistic gray cat is discovered. Time is rapidly running out as Anja struggles to believe what is happening and cure the worsening Snow. Tension mounts, the mystery builds.
While it begins slowly as the world is built, the ground is laid and the characters introduced and brought to life, then this story simply flies along lickety-split towards its surprising ending. Kudos to Kingfisher for the mind-blowing imaginative use of magic and mirrors. I absolutely love idea of the ‘gelds’! They made so much sense and answered a question I’ve had for decades!
Listening length was 11 hours and 50 minutes. The narration was done by Jennifer Pickens, who provided entertaining voices and just the right amount of necessary snark in her tone for both Anja and Grayling.
My thanks to NetGalley, Tor and MacMillan Audio for the advance audio edition in exchange for an honest review.
