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Sorcery and Cecelia (or The Enchanted Chocolate Pot)

Sorcery and Cecelia (or The Enchanted Chocolate Pot)

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Sorcery and Cecelia (or The Enchanted Chocolate Pot)

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Author(s)

Patricia C. Wrede

Co-Authors / Illustrators

Caroline Stevermer

Publisher

Open Road Young Readers

Genre(s)

Fantasy

Age Range

10+

Release Date

June 15, 2012

ISBN

9781453254677

Buy This Book

Since they were children, cousins Kate and Cecelia have been inseparable. But in 1817, as they approach adulthood, their families force them to spend a summer apart. As Cecelia fights boredom in her small country town, Kate visits London to mingle with the brightest lights of English society.

At the initiation of a powerful magician into the Royal College of Wizards, Kate finds herself alone with a mysterious witch who offers her a sip from a chocolate pot. When Kate refuses the drink, the chocolate burns through her dress and the witch disappears. It seems that strange forces are convening to destroy a beloved wizard, and only Kate and Cecelia can stop the plot. But for two girls who have to contend with the pressures of choosing dresses and beaux for their debuts, deadly magic is only one of their concerns.

This ebook features illustrated biographies of Patricia C. Wrede and Caroline Stevermer including rare photos and never-before-seen documents from the authors’ personal collections.

Editor reviews

2 reviews

Enchanting!

July 03, 2012 (Updated: July 03, 2012)

Overall rating

5.0

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SORCERY AND CECELIA, first published in 2004 by Harcourt and released just a few weeks ago in e-book form by Open Road Media, is a gem of a book. I didn't get wind of the book on its first release, so I am grateful to Open Road for putting it on my radar, because I adored it, and am heading out to find the sequel.

SORCERY AND CECELIA is an epistolary novel -- that is, the story is told in the letters two cousins write to each other. This is no accident; in fact, the story was written when two writers decided to play the Letter Game, and when they had finished, they realized they had a book on their hands. (The Letter Game, which the authors explain more thoroughly in an afterword, basically entails writing letters in character.) That the two narrators were written by two writers means their voices are distinct, yet natural -- and yet the story is cohesive, the story unfolding naturally.

My deep affection for Pride and Prejudice may have predisposed me to love SORCERY AND CECELIA, but I suspect I would have enjoyed the book whether or not I had ever read a Jane Austen novel, or watched a BBC costume drama. The cousins Kate and Cecelia are both intelligent, adventurous and determined, qualities which both get them into and out of trouble throughout the narrative. Yet they are not anachronistic. They don't feel like modern girls, but rather like Regency women who refuse to be corseted into submission.

In their world, magic is real, as real as the necessity of finding a decent pair of gloves, and as commonplace. The very ordinariness of magic was refreshing. There was no hoopla, or long explanations about its existence. Magic simply is, like oxygen, part of the structure of the world.

The elements of romance were utterly satisfying as well. Part of what makes Jane Austen novels so compelling is that the right people end up together. So too do Kate and Cece end up with men who are worthy of them, no small feat considering how much I adored the girls by novel's end, and how much I wished for their lives to be full and magical.

So if you're a fan of romance, magic, period dramas, Jane Austen, gloves, chocolate pots or even if you just like good writing, I encourage you to pick up SORCERY AND CECELIA, whether in physical or e-book format.

Good Points

Pride and Prejudice meets Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell

Francesca Amendolia Top 100 Reviewer 66 reviews

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User reviews

9 reviews

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4 stars

22%

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4.8

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Magic and Regency England

September 10, 2009

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4.0

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Reader reviewed by Julie H.

Cecelia and Kate are cousins, living in an Austen-like world where magic is just a part of everyday life. Kate is off to London for her first Season, while Cecy stays behind in the country. Both write notes furiously back and forth about their lives. However, there is a menance of some dark magic lurking and the pair dual together against it. I really enjoyed this novel and am planning to read more about Cecelia and Kate in their next adventure.

Guest #1 Reviewer

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Adorable!

December 09, 2008

Overall rating

5.0

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Reader reviewed by Beth

To say this book is cute would be an understatement. It is the most adorable book that I have ever read, and I loved it. The characters are fun, and the letter writing style of the book is something different that was very enjoyable. It is not heavy reading, but this is for anyone looking for a read that is pure fun.

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Wizarding Intrigue in Regency England

June 27, 2008

Overall rating

5.0

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Reader reviewed by Stephanie

This book is a delight and a half in its crossbreed of Jane Austen language and Harry Potter events! Cousins and dear friends Cecelia and Kate, separated by distance, write letters to each other to keep up the correspondence. From the start, things do not seem to be right. For instance, at Sir Hilarys induction into the Royal College of Wizards, Kate wanders through a doorway and into a magical garden, where a witch by the name of Miranda confuses her for a wizard named Thomas and tries to poison her with chocolate from a chocolate pot. After escaping, Kate actually meets Thomas, the Mysterious Marquis of Schofield, whose impudence puts her on her guard, and even more so when, after a few more near-death moments, he makes an offer of marriage to her, so that he will have some protection from the charms of a young lady whom Miranda wants to set upon him.

Meanwhile, outside of London, Cecy befriends Dorothea, the shy girl whose stepmother, the malevolent witch Miranda, placed a charm spell on her so that every guy in her vicinity will fall heads over heels. Dorothea refuses to stand up to Miranda, and it is during one of their strolls that Cecy notices they are being watched by a not-so-subtle James Tarleton, a dark and elegant man who, it turns out, is good friends with Thomas. He warns Cecy not to meddle in the Marquis affairs with Sir Hilary and Miranda, but of course Cecy doesnt heed him, and finds herself sneaking spellbooks out of Sir Hilarys library and trying to understand more about magic and the significance of a chocolate pot that was once Thomas but is now possessed by Sir Hilary for sinister reasons.

SORCERY AND CECELIA was written as an unplanned, unscripted letter game between two authors, and so the beginning may seem slow and hard to get into. But persevere, and you will be greatly rewarded by a pleasing, adventurous, and romantic story.

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a book of letters

February 08, 2008

Overall rating

4.0

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Reader reviewed by ~tiffany^^

How can you write a story with two locations and two main characters? You can if it is a book of letters. I really enjoyed reading this book, the story was very interesting, it is set in "Austen" time, but with magic, and secret plots. I just HAD to finish the book once i started, i couldn't put it down, because i really want to find out what was going on.

All throughout the book, we read letters written by cousins Cecilia and Kate. There is something fishy going on, and both Cecy and Kate are trying to work it out from bits and pieces of information and clues they gathered. Who is the Mysterious Marquis, and why is everyone trying to get their hands on the enchanted chocolate pot? And what about the young man who is sneaking around, how did he get involved? Since i don't want to spoil the book, you'll have to read it to find out for yourself.

Guest #1 Reviewer

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Awesome!

January 18, 2008

Overall rating

5.0

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Reader reviewed by Nabi

Cecy and Kate have always been close so when their aunts separate them they decide to communicate through letters. Everything seems calm until Kate meets an evil witch named Miranda who tries to poison her using....chocolate. Meanwhile, Cecy is meeting a girl named Dorothea who has a mother named Miranda. Concidence or...not? And Miranda has big plans for Dorothea. Plans that Cecy and Kate are being to uncover....

This book originally began as a Letter Game between the two authors. The only problem with this book is probably that it was a little hard to get in to and the two characters were easily mixed up.

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An Enchanted Read

January 26, 2007

Overall rating

5.0

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Reader reviewed by Tina.S

This is one of those rare books that you want to read again and again! Cecelia and Kate are two inseprable cousins who are separated when Kate goes to London for her first season and Cecy is stuck at home. In London, Kate is almost poisoned by a whitch and somehow finds herself in a sham betrothal to the mysterious marquis. In Essex, Cecelia befriends Dorothea, a young girl terrified of her stepmother and of being forced to marry the mysterious marquis. Strangly, all the young men in town are in love with her and her cousin Mr. Tarleton is doing a very bad job of spying on her. On top of all that Cecy's brother gets turned into a tree! Laugh as you watch Kate and Cecy work their way through the mess.

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cool concept, cool story, cool title

June 27, 2006

Overall rating

5.0

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Reader reviewed by nelka35

This book was recommended to me in a YA BookCentral forum. The recommendation and the title together got me to look it up on Amazon for the review. Sounded interesting. Got it. Liked it. :) Well-written, not boring, adventures and magic mixed together, as well as some romance - and it all goes on in the England of a few centuries ago, an alternate universe concept. The one where magic works. Cool. And the whole book is written in the form of letters, so the story is two-fold - but it reads together, and the story flows. Anyway, it is an excellent collaboration, and I am going to see what else they wrote separately and, hopefully, together - that is how I get into authors, often - I read good collaborations and then look up each author separately.

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Jane Austen style with a magical element!

October 06, 2005

Overall rating

5.0

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Reader reviewed by librariane

Cousins Kate and Cecelia are separated this year because Kate is allowed to have her Season in London this year, while Cece is still stuck at the familys home in the country. But each are experiencing all kinds of interesting things, despite the constraints of society (balls and
parties and curfews and such)--their neighbor in the country is suspected of dastardly plans to hurt the Marquis of Schofield, who Kate meets while in London. Sir Hilary and the Marquis are both adept at magic, and Sir Hilary has managed to find a way to control Thomas, the Marquis, and its up to Kate and Cece to stop him!

This book is written entirely in letters between the two girls, and in some ways it is a bit
implausible how much of the story is communicated, but the story is charming and fun to
read nonetheless. And thinking about how much correspondence was necessary and an art
in the 1800s (when this book takes place), one can let it go. Wrede has written an unusual
story that feels rather Jane Austen, yet it has quite a bit of magic in it (though its just a part of everyday life not an anomaly, which is nice). Definitely more of a book for girls, and it
can go in either the juvenile or young adult section, though older students will appreciate it more.

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gossiping cousins

August 08, 2005

Overall rating

5.0

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Reader reviewed by Riney

Sorcery and Cecilia is an entertaining novel set in letter form in Regency England (right after the defeat of Napoleon).

Cousins, Cecy and Kate, narrate the novel by writing letters to each other about events happening around them. Kate is in London for her Season and talks about all the balls and the mysterious woman who tried to posion her. And of course, you can't forget the odious Marquis that seems to be everywhere! Meanwhile, Cecy is in the country and befriends a young girl who suddenly becomes irrestible to all men! Plus, her brother has disappeared! As the story moves on, the two lives become entwined and both cousins end up helping the other!

This fantasy novel is fun to read, but it may be confusing at times since it is in letter form. There is plently of romance and action, so pick it up for a good read!

Guest #1 Reviewer