Olivia Atwater, The Witchwood Knot

 

The Witchwood Knot was a lovely discovery from a new-to-me author. Olivia Atwater won't be staying new, I've already brought another to read and am saving it up for a reading binge over Christmas.

Witchwood Manor is an enchanted place. Winifred Hall, a young woman of considerable resources, is sent there to be governess to a young boy before he leaves for Eton. She is not welcomed on arrival - the door is eventually opened by a disturbingly feral, rat-tailed butler - but we quickly learn that she has a purpose of her own in taking the post. And despite her employer's insistence that the house is not cursed, it becomes clear to Winnie that a faerie butler, screaming faces in the walls and surly charge constitute  excellent reasons for staying to investigate the nature of the Witchwood. In this she's assisted by her cat Oliver, who prowls the corridors to protect her - which might just be a charming detail, except that most of the time Oliver is just a skull.

I adored all of this - magic is outlawed, essentially, by the Lord Sorcier, who has labelled all magic users evil. There is clearly more of this back-story in Atwater's other books, but I found it all logical enough to follow (and just enjoy discovering more of this entrancingly gothic world later). In the meantime I was more than content to follow the trading of questions and lies that form the start of Winnie's complicated relationship with Mr Quincy, the butler, and the amorously creepy Lord Longfell.